Things Never Get Done Right the First Time
by White Heat
Summary: Complications. Love. Loss. Betrayal. Death. These are a part of the Games, but when did anyone ever follow the rules? Tatiana's life is in for a twist.
1. Preface

**Author's Notes: Hey so I don't own the Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins does :) Hope you enjoy this and please REVIEW! I'd love for you to tell me if I should change anything :)**

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><p><strong>Preface<strong>

Was the 52nd Hunger Games really the 52nd Hunger Games? Was the 68th Hunger Games really the 68th Hunger Games?

No.

They were really the 53rd Hunger Games and the 69th Hunger Games, but the people didn't know that. They still don't...and chances are they never will.

Everyone has secrets. Things that would ruin them forever. That one test you cheated on. That one time when you lied to your mom about where you were.

Maybe your teacher saw you look at their paper. And maybe your mom saw you drive in the other direction.

Everyone has secrets.

But not all things remain secretive. Secrets never stay secrets: someone will find out and they _will_ tell.

Even the Capitol has its secrets.

The 50th Hunger Games were held, as normal, the year after the 49th Hunger Games.

Things went wrong. Terribly wrong.

If you were at the top, would you want to come down?

Didn't think so.

Neither did President Snow. But being at the head of Capitol, he kept people quiet with threats. The next year, after the first 50th Hunger Games, Snow re-held the 50th Hunger Games, which replaced the previous one in history. A second 50th Hunger Games. An extra Quarter Quell. Extra deaths. The first 50th Hunger Games was forgotten.

But some people didn't forget. Let's take a trip back and see what happened, shall we?

And may the odds be ever in your favour.


	2. Recap

**Author's Notes: So this is the first chapter...and I guess it's pretty long...but it was longer, which is why i cut it. Chapter 2 and Chapter 1 were originaly one chapter but this make more sense. Please REVIEW! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

It's a bright Sunday morning as I make my way across the field to the area where we keep the sheep. This part of the land is where my best friend, Leila Desch, and her family live and take care of some of the animals of District 10.

I open the gate so that I can get to the sheep. The crowd of soft, fluffy animals suddenly surrounds me, recognizing me. I find a small baby lamb, born two weeks ago, that I named Buttercup, and give her a soft pat. As I move to close the gate behind me, they disperse.

In District 10, I have no real family. My father, Roland Miks, was killed in the 44th Hunger Games. That year, the districts had been trying to rebel, and the Capitol hadn't been happy. President Snow had announced that that year's Hunger Games would be made up of tributes of all ages: everyone had a chance of being reaped. In the arena, you would have middle aged men fighting against weak children. That was the year my father was reaped, at the age of 39. No one volunteered for anyone and everyone was scared, because they could've all been reaped.

My mother, my brothers and I had watched my father die. We'd been watching the broadcast when it happened. My father was one of the three tributes left, and for a few days, we thought he had a chance at coming home.

That day, as we watched, the remaining male tribute of District 2 stabbed my father through his heart.

My father had been unarmed. He had just saved the District 2 tribute, Gamo, a man in his thirties, from a spot of quicksand, which was cleverly placed by the Gamemakers in that year's desert arena. Gamo had begged my father to save him as he walked by, and finally, Roland gave in. I supposed it was because he couldn't stand to see someone suffer. He'd had an old rope in the backpack he'd gotten from the Cornucopia, and he threw an end to Gamo to hold on to while my father dragged him out. Once Gamo was out, my father leant forward to retrieve his bag. As quick as light, Gamo seized the dagger tucked into his pocket and waited until my father straightened up before he flung it at him.

It hit him square in the chest. Even as the canon sounded, announcing his official death, I couldn't believe it. My brothers were sitting dumbfounded and my mother was crying and shrieking. She was screaming so hard she broke a window.

I shake the memory of my poor mother out of my head.

The next day, she'd deliberately attacked a Peacekeeper, and she'd been shot. She was only 37.

My life ended that day. As if the loss of my father wasn't bad enough, we were motherless too.

We were alone. My 18 year old brother Nathaniel, Nathan, my 12 year old brother Lloyd and my 10 year old self were alone.

We lived for one year alone in our small house, living off the money left behind by our parents and off hard, manual labour.

That year, in the 45th Hunger Games, Lloyd was reaped. His eyes had widened and his face had gone pale as he heard his name be called. Nathan couldn't volunteer, he was 19 that year, and no one else would.

I refused to watch the Games.

I had stayed in my room and cried. When Lloyd finally died, with 8 tributes left, I didn't sleep or talk for two weeks, while hardly eating.

A week after I'd started talking to Nathan again, he let his distress out. He went to the district's main square and yelled. He'd yelled about the unfairness of the Games, about the Capitol's stupidity, about how we die for nothing. The last thing he yelled had been about President Snow and had gone along the lines of "You can go and die in a hole for all I care". After he'd said that, Peacekeepers had finally subdued him. They didn't shoot him; they'd just knocked him out. And with that, they dragged him away...somewhere.

I never saw Nathan again.

I'd gone back to our old house and let out all the tears I'd been holding back since my father had died. In less than two years, I'd lost my entire family. I'd been alone. I'd spent 3 weeks locked up inside my room, living off the bits of bread and cheese in our cupboards. All I'd done was eat; cry, sleep, cry, cry, sleep and then wake up and cry myself to sleep again.

It was pretty pathetic.

I was cut off from the world. I'd locked the door and hadn't even bothered with the windows.

After 3 weeks, Leila had brought her brothers Mathon and Andrei to my house to bring me out. I'd yelled my throat raw and had fought against Mathon's and Andrei's arms, but I was no match for the 18 year olds' strength. When Leila had just told them to grab me, I'd let them. They'd picked me up, still bawling, and brought me to their house. Leila's mother, Theresa, her little sister Shanon and Leila herself had nursed me back to health. After a week, I'd started walking around the house and not just staying in the tiny room I occupied in their small house.

The first time I went outside since I'd been with Leila, I'd passed by a cow pen. They'd all stared at me and I'd felt...weird. Then a small, little calf, white with a few black blotches, had come up to me and stood beside me.

For the first time since Nathan was taken away, I'd smiled.

And I'd been living with the Desches ever since.


	3. Every Rose Has Its Thorn

**Author's Notes: So here's the second chapter, and I just noticed that I submitted the preface and first two chapters in the same day so I guess I'm really on a roll. Please REVIEW and stay tuned for more! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 2<strong>

I hear Leila call my name, and her voice snaps me back to the present. Quickly but gently, I make sure the lamb is safe inside the pen before I close the gate.

Leila is standing outside, dressed in a yellow t-shirt and a short white skirt. Her black hair is in a messy bun at the back of her head and she has a big smile on her face.

When I reach her, she gestures back at the Desch residence a mere five metres behind her. "My mom's got our things ready." I nod, give her a hug and we enter the Desches' house.

We got down the hall to Leila's parents' room where her mother, Theresa, has our clothes arranged on her bed: something for me and something for Leila.

The reaping for the 50th Hunger Games is this afternoon at 12:00; noon. Since it's the second Quarter Quell, President Snow has to tell us what will be different this year. His broadcast is going to be on TV at 11:30.

Theresa, I couldn't call her mom or Mrs. Desch because it was weird for me, gives Leila a nice ruffled white shirt with a grey skirt that ended at her knees. She hands me a soft, silk-like white dress, that I recognize as my mother's, with a small elastic under the fabric around the lower chest, so that the rest of the fabric falls loosely over whoever wears it. I estimate the size to end about 15 cm above the top of my knee. "Thank you" I say to Theresa, and Leila mimics my thanks. Theresa nods and gives us a small smile "You girls should wash up and put them on, the broadcast will start soon."

Sure enough, it's 11:00 on the dot, so we give Theresa a short nod and run to our rooms. Quickly, I slip out of my black shorts and blue t-shirt and toss them on my bed. I bathe as fast as I can, rubbing my skin clean and washing out my hair. I dry myself off and let my hair air dry for a few minutes before I dry the rest with a towel and put on the dress. Surprisingly, it fits perfectly, the fabric feeling as soft as silk against my skin. It feels custom made, because of how well it fits. The thin shoulder straps don't feel tight or loose, but something feels like it's missing. I turn to my small 3 drawer dresser and pull a long black ribbon out of its top drawer. Thankfully, it fits around me. I place it over the part of the dress that has the elastic under it and I secure the ribbon in a bow on my back. I look at myself in my small mirror and spin. The dress flows around me.

As I step out of my room, Leila steps out of hers. The skirt and the shirt fit her perfectly, and she's arranged her hair into a tidier bun. My own long brown hair, neither straight nor curly, but in between, is loose, falling between my lower chest and mid-stomach. Shanon, Leila's sister, comes running down the hall in a nice pink dress with small white shoes. This year is her first reaping.

She stops and stands in front of us. Slowly, she tilts her 12 year old head to one side and stares at us. "You guys look really pretty" she states.

We both bend down and give her a hug. "Thanks" we say in sync.

It's 11:30 when Leila's father, Patrick, calls the three of us to the small, cramped living room to watch President Snow's broadcast. We run to the living room and sit on the small couch as President Snow's face appears on the small TV's screen.

"Good afternoon" Snow's voice says, "This year's Hunger Games is the 50th Hunger Games, and we all know what that means."

Yes we do.

"This year is our second Quarter Quell" he states, "and we can't leave the Games as they usually are, can we?"

Snow turns to his right and opens a small box, containing small, yellow envelopes. He pulls out the one that goes with the second Quarter Quell and opens the envelope. He opens the small paper within and reads.

"In honour of the second Quarter Quell, twice the amount of tributes shall be reaped from each district as a reminder that no one can escape the Games" Snow recites.

We are silent, as we comprehend what he is saying. There will be twice as many tributes reaped. Twice as many chances at getting chosen. Shanon lets out a small whimper and Andrei, now 24 gives her a hug.

"Thank you" the president says, "Happy Hunger Games."

Some people say he smells of roses. And before today, I actually liked the roses growing outside. The first chance I get, I'm digging them out.


	4. Reaping and weeping

**Author's notes: Well, this is pretty long, but if I do say so myself it's better that way :) Once again, I don't own the Hunger Games, they belong to Suzanne Collins! Please read and REVIEW!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

Double the tributes. Double the chance that things will not go well today. I sit stupidly on the couch for the next five minutes. After a few silent moments, I absent mindedly lift up my hand and hold my necklace in my palm. The necklace I wear is a carving on a string. More specifically, a small, carved statue of a wolf, made out of perfect white wood. It hangs on a thin leather cord that encircles my neck comfortably.

My father had carved the statue out of the wood when I was seven. We'd been out in the woods with another hunter, illegally of course. The other hunter, his name was Quelot, had left us once he'd caught a small brown rabbit. My father and I had stayed behind, hoping for a somewhat larger kill. We'd walked on further ahead and found a beautiful white wood tree amongst all the rest that could be found in the forest. In that very moment, a magnificent white wolf had crossed our path. We'd shared a look with it, and then it had run off. My father had then taken out his dagger and cut a chunk of wood out of one of the tree's branches. I had helped him by climbing up the tree and holding the rest of the branch so it wouldn't fall on his head. He'd spent a few, slow minutes carving out the wolf we'd seen, the memory still fresh in his mind.

Three minutes later, he handed me the finished product. I turned the figurine over in my small, seven year old hands. I ran my fingers over the smooth, flawless surface of the canine. He carved a small hole at the top, and strung it on a leather cord he had in his bag, and tied it around my neck.

It was one of the only things I could remember him by. I wore it at all times and never took it off. Not for sleeping, showering or feeding the animals.

The sound of the bell brings me back to reality. Leila and her family are waiting at the front door for me. I take one last deep breath before following them.

Once we are in front of District 10's Justice Building, the streets are filled with waves of people. I almost lose Leila in the crowd but we link arms and stay together.

We stand silently, Leila, Andrei, Mathon, Shanon, Theresa, Patrick and I. Suddenly, a silence sweeps over the throng of people. At the front of the crowd, on top of a big platform, stands Divoga Petal, the escort for the District 10 tributes. She is average height, with short blond hair and a short green dress that falls to her knees.

"Good afternoon," she starts, "For today's reaping, as you already know, two names will be drawn for the girls as well as the boys due to this year being a Quarter Quell."

Silence.

"Let's start then!" she says with a smile, hoping to lighten the mood.

It doesn't work.

"Let's start with the girls now shall we?"

She walks over to the glass ball that contains all the girls' names. She shoves her long, manicured nails into it and moves her hand around before her hand emerges with a slip of paper inside of it. She reads the name.

"Iris Yader!"

Iris Yader. The name sounds familiar. Oh, I remember. I went to school with her for a bit and sometimes, we tend the cows together. I don't like her very much, due to her "I'm the best" attitude and the fact that she's self-centered. Not to mention mean and bossy.

Iris slowly walks on stage, no emotion on her face.

"Any volunteers?" asks Divoga.

She is answered by absolute silence.

"Alright then," says Divoga, trying to keep things moving, "now for the second girl tribute."

For the second time, her hand goes into the glass ball and she reads the name off the paper she has picked.

"Leila Desch."

No. No. No. No. NO! Not Leila! I turn my head to face my best friend, the friend I've known since I was two years old. The friend who was there for me when no one else was. The friend I shared everything with.

Leila has a family. She has two brothers, a sister, a mother and a father. I have nothing but their comfort and friendship. I have no real family left. I have nothing to lose. That I can think of, anyways.

I can't let her leave them. Not for anything and certainly not today.

"I volunteer!" I shout at the top of my lungs. I think of yelling again to get my point across, just to secure Leila's safety. I push Leila behind me, into the arms of her mother. "I volunteer!" I yell again.

"Ooh! A volunteer! How wonderful!" Divoga claps to herself.

I slowly make my way up on stage and pass Iris. Her face is still emotionless.

"What's your name?" Divoga asks me, with a huge smile.

I look over at Leila and her family. They are all crying, even Andrei and Mathon, who I've never seen cry. But out of all of them, Leila has the most tears streaming down her face. She meets my gaze and she starts to sob. She yells something that sounds like "Stop! Don't take her! Stop it!".

I turn to Divoga and say "Tatiana Miks."

After Divoga says a few words, I go and stand next to Iris. She doesn't look at me put sticks her nose in the air as if to say "well, if you're here I can still be better than you".

"How about the boys now?" says Divoga. In two seconds, she draws a paper from the boys' glass ball.

She reads the paper. "Sam Tenrik."

Sam Tenrik. Seventeen years old, tall, short dirty blond hair and hazel eyes. He has a body that makes you wonder what he does to keep it perfect. I watch him as he makes his way up on stage, trying his best not to look sad.

I always had a small crush on Sam. I've always liked him, not that he knew. I was pretty sure he'd never heard my name until I'd told it to Divoga two minutes ago.

He stands next to me and tightens his hands into fists. Divoga asks for volunteers, again with no response.

She goes to draw the second name, and then reads the name of the last tribute of District 10.

"Artemis Dragora."

Artemis, I recognize. I recognize his short-ish brown hair, the fact that he just a bit taller than me, that he just turned seventeen, that he's well built, and his eyes. His eyes were the bluest eyes I have ever seen. I recognize him from the few times I've gone hunting in the woods and come across him, sometimes with a reasonable kill.

He stands next to Sam, sadness in his eyes.

In that moment, I hear Iris sob. I feel a sudden urge to comfort her, even though we aren't friends and I don't particularly like her. So instead, I begin to sing. Softly at first, but then louder.

_Do you hear them?_

_Their voices on the wind._

_Do you see them?_

_Their shadows in the sun._

_They're there,_

_Waiting for you to come_

_Come...home_

_It's not over_

_We're not done_

_Standing, shouting_

_Singing_

_We're coming home..._

I remember the days when Shanon was sick, and I would go to her room with Leila. I would bring my guitar and sing the song for her. The chords I've played so often come to my head: A minor, F, C, G and repeat...

After I repeat it a few times, Divoga speaks into the mike. "I give you, your tributes!" I think she says this extra loud to drown out my voice and get things moving along. Well, whatever she's doing, I stop my singing. The people are still quiet.

Peacekeepers make their way onto the stage and direct us to the train station. No goodbyes. No chance to say you'll miss your family. You just leave.

Reporters wait for us at the train station, bombarding us with questions. The Peacekeepers stop for twenty seconds to check something, but that's enough for the reporters.

"Why did you volunteer for your friend?" one reporter yells at me, thrusting a mike into my face.

"Do any of you think you have a chance at winning the Games?"

"Will it be harder for you to keep your cool, now that there are double the tributes?"

We are bombarded with questions, but we answer none of them. We ignore them until the Peacekeepers more the reporters and cameramen out of the way. With a few pushes, the Peacekeepers throw us onto the train.

As soon as the last of us is inside, with the door closed, the train starts moving. I lean against the nearest wall and exhale. Iris motions for us to follow her, and we move into the next train cart. We are greeted by Divoga and the only two victors of District 10: Misha Catton, victor of the 40th Hunger Games, and Deveron Penman, victor of the 38th Hunger Games.

They are sitting at a large table, with four empty chairs, one for each of the tributes. We move and sit down. I sit next to Iris and across from Misha. Misha and Deveron introduce themselves, to make sure we know who they are and what their names are. We say hi and introduce ourselves.

"So," Deveron begins, "I know this may not be the best time, but we need to starts thinking about strategies, for the arena."

"It's better to start now, than later," adds Misha, "So you be ready when it's time for the training center."

We nod.

"So," says Misha, "What can you do, Sam?"

"Well, I haven't really used that many weapons in my life, but I'm good with close hand-to-hand combat, and I'm not that bad with edible plants."

Misha nods and probably commits that to memory. "What about you, Artemis?"

Artemis, who's been silent up until now, answers Misha. "I'm a good hunter, probably best with a bow and arrow, but I can hold my own when it comes to daggers."

Deveron says "Those are pretty good; we'll see what else we can do." This time, Deveron asks us what we can do. "So what about you, Iris?"

"I can't do much. I can handle small knives but that's pretty much it" she answers, with a tone in her voice that suggested that she couldn't care less about their battle strategies.

"Um, okay then," Deveron says, uncertain, "We'll figure some things out then."

Now everybody turns to me. "And you, Tatiana?" Deveron asks.

Should I tell these people everything that I can do? Or should I lie? What if one of my fellow tributes won't be an ally and use these things against me? I finally decide to tell them everything.

"Well," I start, "I'm a really good hunter. I can work with bows and arrows, which are best for me, knives, daggers, ropes, setting small traps, climbing things and it goes on. I know the difference between poisonous and edible plants but my healing skills aren't the best. I can cure the basic poisoning but that's almost it, other than using plants to cure small colds."

"All that?" asks Misha.

I nod. "My dad taught me everything, and until he died that's what I knew and I never learned more, except for the edible plants part."

"Well then," Deveron finally speaks, "We can work with those and see what we can do about upping your healing and telling the difference between the poisonous plants. But other than that, you can improve those skills or learn other things offered at the training center."

"Sounds good" I answer.

Divoga leads us to our separate compartments. My compartment is between Sam's and Iris's. Artemis's is the one after Iris's.

We are allowed to shower and change into the clothes that are in our drawers. I shower in the unfamiliar tub under warm water, which was hard to find due to the multiple settings. After I dry off, I slip into a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a white shirt.

Sam, Artemis and Iris are waiting for me outside their compartment doors and we make our way to the dining cart. Once we are seated with Divoga, Misha and Deveron, we begin to eat.

As we eat the large chicken legs on each of our plates, the mountain of assorted cheeses and the variety of drinks, Misha and Deveron show us the taped reapings of the other districts. We watch District 1's reaping, where they are multiple volunteers, and it takes the Peacekeepers a few minutes to settle the crowd. The same happens in District 2, and then when we see the District 3 reaping, two frail looking girls are chosen along with two boys, who look in better condition than they are. District 4 comes up, and one of the girls stands up straight, brown hair in a ponytail, trying her best not to cry. It doesn't work and she breaks down. Districts 5 through 9 pass quickly, no volunteers in any of them. When we get to District 10, our reapings, I watch as Iris is chosen, I watch myself volunteer, then Sam comes on stage, followed by Artemis. Before they continue to District 11, I see the camera zoom in on Leila and her family. Andrei is holding Leila back. Leila is crying, shouting and trying to get to the stage to bring me back. Finally, she gives up and falls on the ground, still sobbing. Seeing Leila so sad makes me feel terrible. I feel the tears form at my eyes and I push Sam out of the way to leave the dining cart. I don't wait for them to call me back for dessert, or to see what's wrong, I just run to the other cart and open the door to my compartment. I don't lock the door, but I close it. With another sob, I collapse on the bed and cry.


	5. Wild Ride

**Author's Notes: So here's another awesome chapter :D As a heads-up, the next chapter is the training center and possibly when the tributes perform for the Gamemakers :) Pretty please with a cherry on top REVIEW people! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 4<strong>

I don't know how long I'm lying on my bed, but since I left the dining cart at 8:00, I guess it's around 9:30 when I open my eyes. I hear a knock at my door, and then another. "Go away" I whisper to no one in particular. The person on the other side of the door can't even hear me, so they knock again. I don't have the energy to yell at them, so I just sob some more.

Whoever is waiting in the hall gives another knock, this time harder than before. When I don't answer, they open the door and come in. I have my back to the door so I don't see who it is. I stay with my face buried in my pillow and I continue crying. I feel my visitor standing behind me, but I don't turn to look at them. They place their hand on my shoulder.

"You okay?" they ask.

I sit up, and I don't care if my eyes are red from crying or if I'm sobbing hysterically. Sam is standing beside my bed, his hand still on my shoulder.

"Do I look okay?" I ask him. "What are you doing here?" I continue.

"Sorry, and I'm just checking up on you."

I wipe away the tears on my cheeks with my sleeve.

"So, what's wrong?" he asks.

"What's wrong?" I say. "Hmm, let me think," I continue, sarcasm dripping in my voice, "I'm in the 50th Hunger Games, which just so happens to be a Quarter Quell. And in this Quarter Quell, there are twice as many tributes and twice as many people to kill to be able to win and go home. My whole family is gone, dead, and my best friend is breaking down on the fact that I volunteered to save her and she's sad that I'm here and..." I stop talking, unable to continue.

Sam regards me for a few long minutes before speaking. "It's not your fault you know."

I don't answer him.

He takes his hand off my shoulder and sits beside me on my bed.

"Tell me why you care" I finally say.

"Why, should I be leaving you alone to sit and cry and not come out? Doesn't seem very nice" he answers, with a small smile.

"I'm not the best person to go to advice for" I say. I inhale and exhale, the last of my tears leaving my eyes. I stop crying and sit up straighter.

"Well I don't need advice, and since we're here I might as well ask you something" he answers.

"What?"

"Well for starters, I was wondering if you could help me with the edible plants things at the training center" he starts.

I nod.

"And secondly, I'd love to see you shoot arrows, I need to learn the basics."

I give him another nod. "Sounds good."

He nods in return. "So I guess this means we're allies."

"Yeah."

"I'm going to go back to the dining cart, or is everyone done?" I ask.

"They finished about five minutes ago. They all went to sleep."

"Well, we better get some sleep then" I say. He nods and gets up to leave. Slowly, he opens the door and steps outside.

"Wait, Sam!" I call.

He turns and raises an eyebrow.

"Thanks, for everything" I say to him.

He smiles and nods before closing the door.

I get under the covers, not bothering to change into pyjamas. I am asleep before my head even touches the pillow.

When I wake up, someone is pounding on my door. "Tatiana wake up, we're at the Capitol!" I hear Divoga's voice through the door. I get up slowly and open the curtains for my compartment's window. My eyes are met by a blinding sunlight. From what I can see, we _are_ at the Capitol. There are tall building amongst skyscrapers and huge houses.

I scramble out of bed and change out of my white shirt for a better fitting t-shirt. I change pants, but only to another pair of skinny jeans.

I go outside and into the dining cart, where my fellow tributes are eating. I sit down and shovel some eggs onto my plate with a few sausages. After I eat, I pour myself a glass of milk and chug it down. After that, I join Divoga, Misha and Deveron at the window.

We reach the station in a few minutes. As soon as Iris, Artemis, Sam and I step off the cart, microphones are once again, thrust into our faces. We push them away as Peacekeepers show us in which direction to go to get to the Training Center. I spend twenty seconds eyeing the building I`ll be living in until the Games start. It`s really big, and it`ll probably be bigger inside.

It is.

We follow Divoga, Misha and Deveron into the big elevator. Someone hits the button for the tenth floor, which we have all to ourselves, and we`re up there in under fifteen seconds. We each go and see our rooms and wait. After a while, Misha knocks on my door. She brings me to another room so I can meet my prep team. She says that they have to get me ready for the Opening Ceremonies, which starts in the three hours.

My prep team introduces themselves. First, there is Fortina, a short plump woman in her thirties. She has light blue hair and a dazzling white smile. Then there is Cecilia, who has shining gems inlaid in her face in the shape of a crescent moon on her right cheek. She has long, black hair which she keeps crimped. Finally, there is Rykeir, a man in his thirties. He is tall, with purple eye contacts. Although he looks hostile, he is nice to me as we exchange our greetings.

"Wait here" Cecilia instructs me. When she returns, my prep team spends twenty minutes waxing my body free of all unwanted body hairs. It hurts, but I can't protest. They make me shower and then dry off. After they are done with me, they go to call my stylist.

"Trust me, you'll love him!" Fortina assures me.

I sure hope so.

My stylist walks in, a man with short black hair. He wears a royal blue scarf around his neck with a white shirt and black pants. "Hey," he says to me, "I'm your stylist, Siberio. And if I do say so, I'm awesome at what I do."

"I'll take your word for it" I say with a smile as I shake his hand. I blush a bit when I realize I'm completely nude. Siberio inspects me, probably judging if he made the costume right. When his eyes catch sight of the brown wolf on my bare skin, he smiles. "Nice tattoo" he says, smiling.

"It's not a tattoo," I explain, "When I was small, my friend helped me paint this on." I gesture to the wolf that encircles my lower back. The tip of the tail appears on my left thigh. The head is "painted" on my upper right hip and upper right thigh. The face of the emotionless wolf is partially on my stomach. "It was some sort of permanent paint, and it's been there ever since."

He inspects it some more. "This is perfect!" he exclaims. Well, something is going well.

"Okay let's get started," he says, "Tatiana, I want you to stay standing where you are and close your eyes. Please don't peek!"

Siberio has a huge smile on his face and looks really excited to see me in the clothes he's made me. I decide I like my prep team, my stylist the most.

I follow Siberio's orders and stand still while shutting my eyes. I hear him rush out and rush back in. For the next ten minutes, my prep team works their magic over me. Siberio makes me keep my eyes closed as he puts the costume on me. The fabric is soft. He places something on both my arms and then Cecilia puts a few final touches on my makeup.

When Siberio is finally satisfied and can't wait any longer he tells me I can open my eyes. In front of me, he's placed a big mirror, and girl I see staring back at me is unfamiliar, but wonderful.

The girl in the mirror, me, stares back at me with my own brown eyes. I am wearing a two piece bikini style outfit. The top is all black, with a small dark brown border around the edge. The bottom is a complete match, it too with a dark brown border around it. On my arms, Siberio has placed arm guards, but these are probably not made to protect me from anything. The arm guards are made of dark black leather, and they also have a border on them. The rest of my body is covered in what look like thorns. I realize they are thorns, but they are not designed to hurt me. The thorns travel up both my arms. There are two circular thorn pieces that are designed as anklets on my feet. I realize the strap of the bikini style top is also thorns. It travels down my back and around my sides to finish separately on my mid stomach. As I look more closely, the dark brown borders of my clothes are actually thorns designed as borders. Rykeir has rid my hair of any split ends, and it is now silky smooth. My eyelids have a bit of eye shadow on them, but over the eye shadow, they have put a layer of sparkly glitter, so that my eyelids glitter over the makeup. My fingernails are covered in a few coats of shiny, clear nail polish.

I am amazing. Purely amazing. Beautiful, but deadly.

"You like it?" Siberio asks.

"Is that even a question?" I answer, "I love it!"

I turn and inspect myself on all angles. "It's amazing!" I exclaim.

"I'll take that as a yes" he says, laughing.

He leaves and returns in thirty seconds, with something in his hand.

"One final touch" he says and he hands me what he's holding.

He gives me a perfect white lily. "You have to hold this, okay?" he tells me, "It adds an extra something to the outfit."

Sure enough, it adds a certain light to the costume that I wear. It's that single white against all the black and dark brown thorns that I wear. It's like a single ray of sunshine on a stormy day. It's perfect.

I nod in agreement as he gives it to me. My prep team is overjoyed behind me.

In a few minutes, I am led to my chariot. Each District has two chariots this year, due to the fact that they probably couldn't fit four tributes on one chariot. When I arrive, I eye the costumes of my fellow tributes. Sam is shirtless with dark green shorts and black shoes. In his hand, he holds a fake dagger, making him look deadly. Iris is dressed up in green, completely green, with leaves all over her arms, which makes her look like part of a forest. Artemis is wearing a loose, thin white long sleeved shirt. Over it, he has a dark brown leather vest. On his feet, he wears black leather boots with dark brown pants. He too, holds something in his hand, but it is a large fake sword.

I make my way to the chariots. Sam is already in a chariot with Iris and he gives me a wave as I pass by. I walk up to the chariot that Artemis is in. He extends his hand and helps me up. I thank him and take a few deep breaths. I see the other District's chariots riding out. District 1's tributes are all in shiny skin tight copper suits. Districts 2 and 3 pass and then District 4's chariots go. One of the girls is wearing a mermaid type top: a seashell bra and a pair of white shorts with seashells over the entire surface. The shorts are skin tight so that the shells look like part of her skin. Districts 5, 6 and 7 pass. One of District 8's girls has long braided hair and is not wearing any real clothes. Her entire body has been covered with multiple colours of sewing string. Her arms are covered with red string, her torso is covered in black string, and her legs are covered with more black string. It's weird, but fascinating. Then District 9 passes. Finally, it's time for us to go on. Sam and Iris's chariot leaves first and they start waving.

Artemis turns to me. "Nervous?" he asks.

I breathe deeply "Oh yeah..."

Suddenly, our horses, both a flawless white, pull our shiny chariot forward. Artemis manages to keep his balance and he helps me regain mine. We are met by screaming crowds of Capitol people, all excited to get a look at our costumes. Camera flashes blind me for a few seconds, but I blink a few times and then I can see. I realize Artemis is waving. When he sees I'm not doing anything he whispers to me. "Just do what people told you to do."

He continues smiling at the crowd. No one told me to do anything. Not to wave. Not to smile. Nothing. I don't know what to do. But then again, even if they had told me what to do, I probably wouldn't have done it, due to the fact that I hate following instructions.

So I smile a dazzling smile and wave frantically at the crowd. In my non-waving hand, I hold the lily. The crowd sees me and my costume and goes wild. They love it. It's different and..._wild_. I am wild.

When the chariots stop, President Snow appears and says a few words.

When he finishes, the chariots turn around and head to the Training Center. Once I am back to my prep team, they take pictures of me so that they can remember this night.

I am allowed back to my room, where I put on a pair of summer silk pyjamas. I dream of lilies and storms.


	6. Alliance

**Author's Note: Well here's EPICNESS put into a single chapter. (EPIC is so EPIC it's written in ALL CAPS) Anyways, please let me know if the swordfight was any good :D (Hopefully it's EPIC in your eyes) And never ever ever ever ever forget to REVIEW! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 5<strong>

When I wake up, I hear people moving around in the hall. Everyone is awake. These days, it seems everyone is content with letting me sleep a little longer. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and get up. I change and go to eat breakfast with everyone else.

When I sit at the table, sure enough, everyone is there. Artemis, Sam and Divoga seem to be the last people to wake up before me, because they are just starting to get food on their plates. I settle with grabbing a glass of orange juice and a crepe with strawberry jam on it. When I sit, people notice my presence. I receive a chorus of "good morning" and I start eating. Misha and Deveron are talking about more arena strategies, since training starts in half an hour.

After a few minutes, I realize Divoga is staring at me. I raise an eyebrow in question. "What's up?" I ask her.

"You're the big talk in the Capitol now," she tells me, "With your outfit yesterday, people love you. It was very different."

"I hate being in the center of attention" I mumble. I hate when people are always looking at me and inspecting every single move I make. Screw them. I can do whatever I want and they can come along for the ride for all I care.

When I'm done, Misha and Deveron take us to the elevator while Divoga stays to get some things ready and to get the times ready for some upcoming events.

Misha hits the button for the bottommost floor. The ride down is silent, except for Deveron's whistling. The tune is familiar, but the song slips my mind at that moment.

When the elevator doors open, Sam, Iris, Artemis and I get out. Misha and Deveron leave us and give us smiles as they head back up in the elevator.

"Ready for this?" Sam asks us.

"Sure hope so" I answer. Iris and Artemis nod.

We step through the doors of the Training Center. Some people give us wide bracelets to wear. They each have our District number on them. I put mine on my right hand and move on.

There are a wide variety of stations, so I start by eyeing the ones where we get to use weapons. I take interest in the one with swords, long ones with decorated hilts that shine in the light. I walk towards it and ask around for the instructor. An old man, probably in his sixties, maybe early seventies, walks up to me.

"Hello there, my name is Barty," he says, shaking my hand, "interested in swords are you?"

"Yes," I answer, "I'm Tatiana."

"Well then, Tatiana," he continues, "Let's get started."

He tells me to pick out a sword and I do. I pick one that is long, so it gives me a nice reach. I know from experience not to start too big, because you can only use the sword if you can hold it well. It's just an extension of your arm. The hilt of the one I take is decorated with what looks like a couple of opals.

I swing it around my hand, letting my wrist move loosely to get accustomed to the feeling. I love holding the sword, and I learn quickly. Barty explains a few techniques to me, but by the time he's done explaining them, I've already mastered them.

I spin on my heels, bringing the sword around my head. I heard a _cling_ as my sword comes in contact with another. I look up and Artemis is grinning at me, a sword in his hand. It's also a long one, with a silver handle with golden swirls to add a design to it. His blade is against mine, hence the _cling_ sound I heard a few seconds ago. I give him a smile, but in a split second, I bring my blade away from his and lunge at him. He sees this coming, because he dodges out of the way so that I miss him and head straight for the floor. But I'm ready, and I dive roll to my feet before I crash to the ground. When I turn to face him, he looks surprised, but he stands straight, with his blade pointing to the ground. "So is this a match?" he asks, the answer obvious. I nod, grinning, and he raises his sword above his head, but he's not fast enough as he brings it down. The sword buries itself in the wood floor, where I was less than two seconds ago. As hard as Artemis tries, he can't move it. It's buried deep into the floor. I grab the opportunity and swing at him, but out of nowhere, a dagger appears in his hand and he brings it up in front of his face to block my blow. Another high pitched sound as metal meets metal. I look around quickly for an explanation on how the dagger got there, and I spot Sam a few metres away, at the dagger station with a smile on his face and a look that said "well, he can't die right away, now can he?" I give him a smile, and it's obvious he was watching the fight and threw the dagger for Artemis to catch and save himself. I take a step back and Artemis finally manages to pry the blade from the ground. He tosses the dagger back in Sam's direction and I hear him chuckle softly as he catches it. Artemis doesn't hesitate before coming into another attack, but this time, he's quicker and I trip trying to avoid a blow. I'm on the ground, and I see Artemis's blade burry itself into the ground once again, but this time it's inches from my face. I have a wide smile on my face, hoping he's done it by accident, but when I try to get up, I can't. I notice he purposely stuck the sword there, and he chose that spot specifically because he's caught the edge of my black tank top and pinned it to the ground. I see his face looming over mine, and he has a triumphant look on his face.

But I'm not going to let him win this easily. His feet are beside mine, but mine are sprawled on the ground. I kick my right foot out and he loses his balance and tumbles to the ground next to me. He had his hand on the hilt of his sword, so it pulls free as he falls. I jump to my feet and spin to face him. He's now on the floor, but in his fall, his sword has fallen from his hands and is now a couple metres away, at Barty's feet. He makes no move to help him though, he want to see how this will end.

I walk up to Artemis and place the side of my sword's blade against his neck. Not too hard though, just enough that he knows I've won. And I have. He tries to sit up on his elbows but I press my foot against his chest and keep him on the ground.

"Give up yet?" I ask him, and this time, _I'm_ the one with a triumphant smile. Take that.

This time, when he tries to sit up, I bring my blade away from his neck and slowly lower it. He props himself on his elbows.

"Truce?" he asks, extending his right arm. I eye him for a second, wondering if he'll attack me the second I turn my back on him. I take my chances and decide to trust him.

"Truce" I decide.

We shake hands, him still on the floor. After two seconds, I help him up. When I turn to walk over to Barty, I notice that everyone is staring at us. The tributes _and_ the instructors at the stations. I suddenly feel awkward. It's one of those situation where you could hear crickets.

They're starting to bug me now, as I make my way to where Barty is standing. I turn around on my heels and yell at everyone "Need something?" They continue to stare, but they avert their eyes in a few seconds.

I turn to Barty. "Anything else I should know?" He smiles and old man smile, which makes him look so vulnerable. "That should do it," he says, "But I'm not really sure I actually taught you anything. It's like you know it."

I shrug. "Maybe I'm just crazy."

"Maybe you are."

With one last smile at the aged instructor, I place my sword with the others and turn to look for another station. I go to the rope tying station, where I brush up on my skills. A few dozen knots later, I'm done and it's time for lunch.

I join up with Iris, who's still not talking...to anyone, Sam and Artemis. We pick some stuff out, mostly spaghetti and water, and sit at an unoccupied table. I've only started eating when four people come to our table, two girls and two boys.

"Hey" says one of the girls. I recognize her as one of the girl tributes from District 4, the one with the seashell outfit. "Hey" I answer. They sit with us, and we talk. Seashell-girl says her name is Rachel. The other girl, with long dark brown hair, is the girl I saw from District 8 who "wore" the sewing string. She tells us that under it, she wore a lace body suit. Her name is Susannah. The first boy has jet black hair with dark blue streaks in it. He introduces himself as Seth, from District 3. The second has black hair, much like Seth's, but he has greyish eyes, in contrast to Seth's brown eyes. His name is Logan and he says that he's from District 3, as well. When I ask them why they look alike, they confess that they're brothers and that when Seth was chosen, Logan hadn't let their older cousin volunteer, and he'd volunteered himself when the other tribute was chosen. They all tell us that their District partners aren't up for sitting with us, and they'd rather try to join the Careers or just stay on their own, with no allies.

Suddenly, we set up an eight person allegiance. It's Iris, who hasn't said she wanted an allegiance, but she hasn't voiced her disapproval, Sam, Artemis, Rachel, Seth, Logan, Susannah and me. I seem to have brought everyone together. Apparently my little battle with Artemis and my confidence in the Opening Ceremonies had convinced them to want to team up. So here we are.

Seth, Logan, Rachel and Susannah say they'll tell their mentors that they have an allegiance. When lunch finishes, I stand up to go train, and the rest follow me. We head to the station to make snares. I do well at them, so I help Logan and Susannah. When we get to the camouflage station, where we learn to camouflage ourselves with the wild, I can't seem to get the arctic camouflage perfectly right, so Iris, who's actually talking, gives me a few pointers.

When our day is up, we tell the other District tributes that we'll work on more things tomorrow.

We head upstairs, taking the elevator to the tenth floor. Artemis, Sam and Iris leave to go to their rooms. I go to my room, happy with what happened today in training. I open the door to my room, and there's someone inside, changing my bed sheets. "Who are you?" I ask.

They turn to me. It is a man with brown hair and dark brown eyes. They don't say anything and they point to their mouth. Right, an Avox. Someone who gets their tongue cut out and has to serve the Capitol. Suddenly their eyes widen as they recognize me from somewhere. I don't know what's going on, and I get creeped out. All of a sudden, my own eyes widen as I recognize the person who's standing in front of me, unable to talk, and changing my bed sheets. I recognize the pain in their eyes. The same pain they had in their eyes the day their father died. When their mother died. When their brother died. When they yelled their throat raw and got taken away.

My Avox is Nathan.

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><p><strong>Mwahahaha! SUSPENSE! Don't you love it? I don't, its frustrating but it makes sure you'll read more...so ha! Gotcha! ;)<strong>

**Ooooo! What's this down here?**

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	7. Judgement Day

**Author's Notes: Well here's yet another chapter :D I didnt know what to write to end the Nathan scene so if you think i should change anything, that;s what the review button is for (hint hint) Enjoy and REVIEW! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 6<strong>

It takes me a few seconds to react as I recognize Nathan. My brother, the one I watched be dragged away by Peacemakers. The family member who'd left me last. The one I thought had died. He was alive.

A whimper escapes my mouth, and then I launch myself at my Nathan. My arms circle him as I bring him into a bear hug. But not even a hug can make up for years of thinking someone you love is dead. I start to sob into his shoulder, and he squeezes me hard, returning the hug.

"You're alive," I gasp, "I can't believe it."

It's one of those moments where you think you're still dreaming. I think of asking him to pinch my arm, just to make sure. But I don't.

Eventually, he sits on the bed and holds me beside him. I see tears leave his eyes, but he makes no sound. Somehow, I think his pain is greater than mine.

We stay there, hugging each other for who knows how long, before we are interrupted with Divoga's knocking at the door. She comes in and sees us. She raises an eyebrow in question. She's about to say something about the awkwardness of the situation when she sees us crying.

"What's wrong" she asks.

I rub the tears form my eyes. "Sorry Divoga," I say softly, "But I this is someone who I thought was dead for years."

"And who's that?"

"My older brother."

A small _eep_ of surprise leaves her mouth before she says anything else. When I sob again, I realize I'm crying tears of joy.

"Wow, just wow," she says, "Um, but for your own safety, I'd recommend not hugging each other at every moment possible, you know, just because it'd make things worse."

I nod. "Do you think we'll be able to, somehow, get him out of here?"

Her eyes become sad. "I don't know, but I promise you Tatiana, when you're the victor, and trust me, you will be, we'll get you both out of here."

The rest of the night passes quickly, and so does the second day of training. Before I know it, it's the day that we perform for the Gamemakers. Two hours left.

Sam, Artemis, Iris and I head towards the elevator. Sam hits the button for the bottom floor, so we can get to the Training Center. I can tell that everyone is nervous for what the Gamemakers are going to say. I see Nathan sometimes, and I make sure the few minutes we see each other are great.

We haven't talked much about what we're going to do for the Gamemakers. Probably pull off a few stunts and play around with the weapons to try to get the highest score possible.

When the elevator doors open, we step out and make our way to the lunch room, where we ate lunch during our two days of training.

When we enter, Rachel, Susannah, Seth and Logan are already sitting at a table with four empty seats waiting for us. We sit, and I plop myself down next to Seth and across from Rachel.

"So," Logan says, breaking the silence, "Everyone nervous?"

He's answered by a vigorous nodding of heads on our part.

"Do you guys know what you're going to do yet?" Rachel asks.

We go around the table, everybody laying out their ideas. "I think I'm going to play it safe," says Susannah, "I don't want people targeting me." "Smart" I state.

"I think I'm going to hang around the rope tying and the daggers" says Seth.

"Same here" says Logan. Sam admits he was thinking the same, but he wanted to work more with the daggers.

"I'm going to try different ways to start a fire," Rachel says, "I'm pretty good at that."

"I'm staying with the camouflage," states Iris, in a solid tone, "I'm showing them what I'm good at."

I nod at her.

"I'm pretty sure I'm going to stick with shooting some arrows," Artemis says, "And try to add a few small knives to it."

When people look at me expectantly, I blank out. I don't know what I'm going to do.

"Um, well I don't actually know what I'm going to do," I admit, "I can't think of anything."

"Just stick to what you do best," Susannah advises me, "Don't do anything stupid."

"Considering it's me, I won't make any promises" I tell her. We share a laugh and then we fall silent. For the next few minutes, we talk and have a few of the things that were left for us at the salad bar. There's salad, fruit and cheeses piled high. At the very end of the salad bar, there are a few bottles of vegetable oil that were probably put there by accident instead of salad dressing. I wonder how they messed that up.

One of the girls from District 1 is called, Hemilia. Ten minutes later, the other female tribute, a girl named Calelie, is called in. Then their two male tributes Lenther and Drolen.

Then District 2 goes by. Then District 3. Seth and Logan's fellow tributes are called, and then Seth. We wish him luck and wait until Logan is up. When District 4 comes around, Rachel has to go. Then we wait. District 5, 6, 7 then 8. We say bye to Susannah. District 9. Then us. Iris's name is called and she gets up, with her nose in the air. Before we can say anything, she's gone.

When Sam is called, we give him comforting smiles as he steps into the gym. Then it's just two of us left: me and Artemis.

We sit quietly for ten minutes. Then Artemis is called. He stands up slowly and makes his way to the door. "Good luck" I say to him, smiling. "You too," he answers, "Just do what feels right in there." Then he's gone too.

I don't know why, but after two minutes, I get up and grab six bottles of vegetable oil and tuck them into the waistband of my light grey sweatpants. I sit and wait. Five minutes pass. Ten minutes. Fifteen minutes. I'm thinking of going in there to see what's going on when they call my name. I get up and walk to the doors. Only the tributes from District 11 and 12 are left. None of them look older than fifteen. I feel a sudden pang of sadness for them.

When I step forward, the doors close behind me and I make my way to the center of the Training Center replica. This one has a place at the front for the Gamemakers to sit. I spot the Head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane, eyeing me as I walk in. I take a deep breath. Before I do anything I look down at myself. I am in a baby blue t shirt with a white hoodie. The sleeves are rolled up to my elbows. My hair is loose, but I have a black elastic on my wrist in case I need it. On my feet, I have sleek white sneakers over my white ankle socks. I breathe again. I'm ready.

I head over to the archery station. Out of the bows, I pick a white wood longbow. It is sturdy and has a good feel to it. I sling a red, white and gold quiver on my back. I pull out one white arrow and shoot to the first target. It hits the bulls-eye. The same happens to the next five arrows I shoot on the next five targets.

Then I move to the daggers. I pick out a few and tuck them into my sweatpants waistband, next to the bottles of vegetable oil. I remember seeing a dummy behind me as I made my way over to the dagger station. With my back to the brown dummy, I hold one slender dagger in my right hand. I fling it behind me. I turn and see the dagger head up, far up. The dummy is suspended by a thick rope attached to the ceiling, so that the dummy is suspended a few feet off of the ground. I see the dagger head for the rope, near the ceiling. I know that the dummy will fall, but I didn't want it to. My hand flashes to my waistband and closes around the handle of another dagger just as my first dagger cuts clean through the rope and sticks to the wall, metres off of the ground. The dummy begins to fall to the ground. I fling my new dagger to the dummy, and it finds its mark. The dagger hits the dummy in the center of its forehead and pins it to the wall behind it. It's still hanging two feet above the ground. I exhale and have another idea. I turn my back to the dummy once again. This time I grab four daggers out of my waistband so there's two left in it. I hold each dagger's handle in the palm of my right hand. With lightning quick speed, I spin on my heels and fling all four daggers at the same time. They leave my hand with amazing speed and they embed themselves in the dummy. One in its chest, where it's heart would be, one in the groin, one in the neck and one in the stomach. For an extra effect, I grab one last arrow and fling it. It lands in one of the dummy's eyes. Out of the corner of my eye, I see one Gamemaker suddenly put his hand over his own eye, as if to protect it.

A rush of anger runs through my body, because other than the Gamemaker that protected his eye and Seneca Crane, no one is paying attention. One of them is asleep and the rest look bored. I turn back to the dagger station. I pick out ten. I turn back to the Gamemakers. I fling three daggers at one Gamemaker who's propped his head on his hand, with his elbow on the table in front on him, in an attempt to fall asleep. My daggers go where they're supposed to. One of them catches the sleeve of his shirt on the arm that's holding his head up. It continues and it pins his arm to the wall behind him. The second pins him by the shoulder to the wall, and the third comes a few milliseconds later. It embeds itself in the wall a few millimetres above his head. If he straightened up two more millimetres, his head would be against the blade of the dagger. I see a few brown hairs fall to the ground beside him. The dagger must have been close enough to actually cut a few of his hairs off.

I fling each dagger separately, and each lands a few centimetres from the face of a sleeping Gamemaker. Their eyes open up quickly and they make movements as though they just shocked themselves with electricity. One Gamemaker actually emits a high pitched scream and literally jumps out his chair and onto the floor.

Pleased with myself, I remember why I'm here. The Games are starting soon. Finally, I have an idea for the bottles of vegetable oil in my waistband.

I do a few back handsprings to the wall opposite the Gamemakers. I finish with a back flip and turn on my heels to face the wall. I pick one final dagger from the shelf and turn to the wooden wall.

I hold the handle of the dagger in my palm and get to work. I begin to carve out letters into the wall. Big letters. I finish the first word and move onto the second. After five minutes, I'm done. The Gamemakers are eyeing me suspiciously. I take the six bottles of vegetable oil out of my waistband and get to work. I fill in the large letters with vegetable oil. I use up one bottle per letter, but I need to make sure each one has enough oil for this to work. I drop the last empty bottle on the floor and run to the fire station. I grab two stones, their names slip my mind at the moment. I go back to my wall carving and quickly rub the stones together once. Nothing happens. I do it again, and this time, in one motion, sparks fly off of the stones. I do it again, and it works. The sparks are big enough, and they land on the oil of the first letter. The oil catches on fire. I hear a sudden intake of breath from the Gamemakers as the flames spread. The fire travels up one letter and then the next, until all six letters are ablaze with orange and red fire. I turn around and all of the Gamemakers are staring, dumbfounded, at what I've done. Their jaws are all hanging open in confusion or surprise, I don't know which. My work is done here.

"Thank you," I say in a loud voice to the Gamemakers, "Have fun putting _that_ out." I point to the flaming words behind me. With one final look at the Gamemakers, I head to the exit.

Before the doors close behind me, I get one final look at what is burning on the wall. Written in fire, are the words GAME ON.

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><p><strong>Author's Notes: Remeber: More REVIEWS = Faster Uploads :D<strong>


	8. Score

**Author's Notes: So here's another chapter! :D YAY *HAPPY DANCE* I just want to say thanks to my readers especially the REVIEWERS (hint hint) Sorry if it's a bit shorter but it's a good size for this chapter. I'm already working on the next chapter so stay tuned! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 7<strong>

When the elevator reaches the tenth floor, I step out slowly and let the doors close behind me. I hear voices coming from the dining room, so that's where I go. Sure enough, my fellow tributes are there, with Divoga and our mentors. They fall silent as I enter and greet me.

"Sit!" Divoga tells me, gesturing to a chair opposite her, smiling.

"Thanks" I say as I sit.

"So what did you end up doing?" Misha asks.

"Um, well, I shot a bunch of arrows and then played around with a dummy and some daggers..." my voice trails off, "Um, and I shot daggers at the Gamemakers because a lot of them were sleeping, so I pinned their sleeves to the wall..."

"Say what?" Divoga sputters, a look of astonishment on her face. Everyone else had their mouths hanging open.

"Um, and I may or may not have set the words 'GAME ON' on fire on the wall with vegetable oil" I continue, my voice almost a whisper.

At this, no one says anything. Iris is the first to break the silence. "Wow."

"Well then," Misha speaks up, "Let's eat. The training scores will be broadcasted at 7:00."

One look at the silver clock on the wall tells me that it's 6:00.

And so we eat. I pile my plate with different cheeses, fresh, ripe, red strawberries, some of the turkey, potatoes, gravy and on and on...

When I finally finish, everyone else is already done and waiting. We get up and make our way to a bigger room. I bring my glass of what tastes like mango juice with me. In the room, there are couches, comfy chairs and a big TV with the Capitol seal on the screen when we walk in.

I sit on a large couch with Artemis, Sam and Iris. Misha sits on a love seat, Deveron on a chair and Divoga on another couch.

After 20 seconds, at 7:00 on the dot, the anthem emits from the TV and we all jump to attention. The seal disappears and is replaced a flashing announcement that says "50th HUNGER GAMES TRAINING SCORES".

District 1 is first. Hemilia gets a 4 and Calelie gets a 6. Lenther and Drolen each get 5 and 8. District 2 passes and then District 3 comes. Seth gets a 6 and Logan also gets a 6 to match his brother's. In district 4, Rachel scores a 5. Districts 5, 6 and 7 pass. District 8. Susannah scores a 4. District 9. Then us. Iris's face pops up on screen. A number 6 is flashing under her name. I lean over and high-five her. She high-fives me with no emotion, but there is a hint of a smile on her face as she sits back. Artemis is next, him with a big fat one-oh. A 10. We clap and congratulate him. Sam scores a 9. More clapping. I smile and take a sip of my mango juice.

After a few gulps, I look back at the screen. Sam's face disappears and mine takes its place. Under my name is a flashing red number. A flashing, bright, red 12.

Deveron falls off of his chair and Divoga's eyes are as wide as I've ever seen them. My glass falls from my hand and shatters on the floor.

12. A 12. Discretely, I pinch myself because I must've fallen asleep and I'm dreaming. But when nothing happens, I realize I'm awake. So I just stare at the flashing red number under my name. It disappears and the training scores for the tributes in Districts 11 and 12 follow. But no one is looking at the TV, everyone is staring at me.

It's in that moment that I realize that I've just made Hunger Games history. No one, _ever_, has ever gotten a perfect 12. Maybe there`s been some 10s, like Artemis, and 11s...but never a 12. Not before thirty seconds ago.

"Woah!" Misha exclaims, jumping from her place on the love seat, "How in the world did you do that!" Her smile is huge, and she can't hide the excitement in her voice.

I don't answer but give her a small smile and a few laughs. I don't know how it happened, but it did. I guess there's something about being threatened that will do those things to Gamemakers.

After the last training score for District 12 disappears from the screen, Seneca Crane, the Head Gamemaker, appears on screen. He's being chased by reporters.

"Why did you give the female tribute from District 10 a 12?" one reporter yells.

"Will this be a momentous moment in Hunger Games history?"

"How will this affect the Games?"

Eventually, he pushes them away and looks straight at the camera. I feel as though he's looking at me, like he knows I'm watching him. Like he's only looking at me.

Slowly but clearly, his mouth forms the words "game on".

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><p><strong>Author's Notes:<strong>

**Step 1 - Read chapter**

**Step 2 - REVIEW**


	9. Let's Talk

**Author's Note: Guess what? Another chapter! It's a long one, and long chapters = more reading for YOU *points at person reading this* and longer chapters are just cool and even 'if they weren't I still wouldn't have cut this one in half because it's perfect like this :) Just as a heads up (I'm writing this here because if I write it after the chapter something is wrong and it's just messed up) I'm either starting the actual Games in the next chapter or the one after (probably the one right after this though :D) so pwetty pwease wif a chewwy on top REVIEW! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 8<strong>

It's been two days since the training scores were broadcasted. Everywhere I go, people stare at me or run up to shake my hand. I've mostly hung out on our floor in the building because it's the one place I'm not bombarded by people.

It's 4:30, and my prep team is working their magic on me, to get ready for the evening interviews, that are starting at 5:30. Fortina, Cecilia and Rykeir lead me to the shower. I press the button for warm water and my muscles are soothed. When I'm done, they drag me out and make me sit on a chair. I bit my lower lip as they rid my body of unwanted hairs. When they are done, I search the room for my stylist, Siberio.

Someone places their hands over my eyes and whispers "Guess who?" into my ear. I chuckle. "Nice one Siberio."

Siberio takes his hands off of my eyes. "Ready to get started?"

"Yes!" I answer. I really want to know what kind of interview dress he's designed me.

"You know the drill," he responds, laughing, "Close your eyes and stay right here."

I do as he says and he rushes from the room. When he returns, he walks slowly and stands behind me. A dress is slipped over my head and the fabric is soft and fits perfectly. The dress is straightened, probably by Siberio. I feel Rykeir's hands working with my hair. Cecilia works with something on my arm and Fortina works on my face.

"Open your eyes" Siberio instructs me, after a good fifteen minutes. Once again, I am met by a stranger in the mirror.

I'm dressed in a silk, white dress. The ends of the dress are arranged around my legs, the dress having a few ends to it. The bottom falls around five and a half inches above my knee. On my feet, are knee high white leather boots. They are slip-ons, and fit nicely, the inside lined with soft silky fabric. Along the sides of the boots is a pale pink thread. The toe of the boots ends in a very small point, curving very lightly upwards. Rykeir has arranged my hair into a messy-looking updo, arranged to have a few curls loose and around my face. On my arm, Cecilia has arranged a light pink ribbon, tied into a bow. For my makeup, Fortina has used a light pink blush on my cheeks. The same light pink is used as an eye shadow, but is covered in glitter, so once again, my eyelids sparkle. My nails are coated in clear nail polish and in my hair, is a glittering silver tiara.

"It's beautiful," I whisper to Siberio, "Why are you so smart?"

He chuckles. "I'm just that awesome."

He leaves once again and returns with something black. He hands it to me. It's a rose, a perfect rose...but it's black. A black rose.

"For more effect," Siberio explains, "Like the white lily."

"So, now I'm light and dark?"

"Yep, you're arranged to be light and dark, on both sides of things, and it's working really well" he says, smiling.

I give him a hug. "Thanks, it really is beautiful."

He nods and returns the hug.

I go to the main room where Iris, Sam and Artemis are waiting with Divoga and our mentors.

Misha looks up at me. "We're finishing some interview angles" she explains. I have no interview angle. Misha, Deveron and Divoga all agreed that they shouldn't tell me what angle to take because so far, I've done better without instructions than with them.

It's 5:15, so Misha, Deveron and Divoga lead us to a different building, where the interviews will take place. After a certain point, Misha, Deveron and Divoga can't come with us, so guards lead us to a place backstage where there are big leather couches. I sit on one with Iris and Sam and Artemis take one opposite us. Soon, our allies arrive and sit in couches near ours. Seth, Logan, Rachel and Susannah all congratulate me on my training score. I smile and congratulate them on theirs. Pretty soon, Hemilia from District 1 is called. We can hear her talking, and she's working on a tough interview angle. When District 1 and 2's interview are over, Seth is called and we wish him luck. When he's done, Logan is gone. Eventually, it's only Sam, Iris, Artemis and me left along with the tributes from Districts 11 and 12.

Sam is called. Fifteen minutes pass. Artemis is called. Another fifteen minutes. Then Iris is called. Before leaving, she turns to me. "You may have won them over with the Opening Ceremonies and the training score, but here, they're mine." With an evil smile on her face, she walks on stage.

Won them over? I didn't want to win the Capitol over, they just like me. Screw Iris, I've got bigger problems.

I can feel that she's almost done with her interview. When she is done, people clap and my name is called. I get up and take a deep breath before stepping on stage.

There is a large crowd gathered in seats in front of the stage. So many people. In the middle of the stage, there are two red velvet one person couches. On one of them, sits Caesar Flickerman. His hair is shining in the light and he's wearing a sparkly blue sequin suit. He extends his hand to me as I approach him. "Hello there, Tatiana, having a good time?"

"A very good time, thank you" I answer with a smile as I sit and shake his hand.

"So," Caesar begins, "How are you enjoying your time here at the Capitol?"

"Well, it's actually been pretty good," I answer, "Aside from the fact that I won't be here much longer, I'll miss it."

The crowd claps. "We'll miss you!" someone shouts. I'll bet. They're all betting on how long I'll last in the Games.

"And the Capitol will miss you too," Caesar assures me, "I must say, your outfit is absolutely stunning."

"You like it?" I ask with a huge smile. I stick my foot out, showing the boots, and the crowd cheers in agreement.

"Very much," Caesar continues, "Now I know everyone here is interested in your training score..."

The crowd cheers, agreeing with Caesar.

"So tell us, how did you manage a perfect 12?" he asks, curious.

This is what they really want. They want to know how I've topped all other victors in every other Hunger Games there has ever been.

"Well, I didn't do much," I lie, "I did a bunch of flips and such and worked around what I could find."

"Well then I daresay your flips must be fantastic," Caesar smiles, "Would you show us one?"

He wants me to do a flip on stage? Well, it's me, so I agree.

"If you say so" I answer laughing.

I'll admit, I'm nervous. I've never done a flip in a dress, but I guess there's a first itme for everything. I take the big black rose and gently tuck it behind my right ear. I take a few steps forward, closer to the crowd. The people nearest me start to cheer my name.

I stand with my side facing the crowd. I smile and Caesar and returns it. I take a few steps and then jump. My hands are partially relaxed as I'm launched into my flip. I don't use my hands, or that'd be a cartwheel. I feel like I'm flying, in the air, even if it's only for a few seconds. When my feet touch down on the ground in front of me, I bend my knees to absorb the shock. Without really planning, I use the force in my legs and jump into a series of handsprings, both front and back. People start clapping and cheering even louder. I land on the far right side of the stage, a huge grin on my face. I decide on one last flip and handspring combo. I launch myself so that I can land in the middle of the stage. A handspring and then a flip. I still have room, so I jump into one final flip. At this, people fall silent, because I've gone really, really high. I curl my knees to my chest and then in the few seconds I have in the air, I'm spinning forward. I can see the ground getting closer so I start to unbend my knees.

Suddenly, a puff of white smoke surrounds me, and I take it from the gasp of the crowd that all they see is the cloud of smoke around me. I feel my dress change, and I'm not sure of what's going on. My feet touch down on the ground, but my dress is still changing. The smoke disappears and I can see what has happened to my outfit during my last flip.

I'm no longer wearing the white dress I was a few seconds ago. Now I'm garbed in a black and white dress of the same style. It is all black now, with a white embroider around the edge. My boots are the same, but now they are a more brilliant white and they are so bright they look like they are glowing. The most fantastic thing is what's appeared on my back. On my back, I now have wings. And not short fairy wings: angel wings. They are each as long as I am tall extending far behind me. The one on the right is white, and the one on the left is black. My hair is still in the same as it was before, but now the black rose that I tucked behind my ear has disappeared. In my hair, around the updo, are tiny little white and black flowers. They are tiny, no bigger than the tip of my pinkie finger, but they are beautiful. My wings move with the wind, but it looks as if they were really a part of me. They move a bit and start to flap a bit back and forth. I am an angel. An angel of darkness and an angel of light.

Siberio's really obsessed with the image he's hoping I cast. A bit of light, a bit of darkness. Beautiful but deadly.

And that's just what I am.

The crowd is still silent and Caesar is unmoving. He looks like a statue.

"Wow..." he whispers under his breath.

The crowd is also deadly silent. In the distance, I literally hear crickets.

All of a sudden, the spell is broken and the crowd starts whispering amongst themselves. Then people cheer and clap. Their hands are going to hurt later, I think to myself.

Slowly, I make my way to Caesar. He's somehow managing to look dumbfounded and excited at the same time. I raise my eyebrows at him. "Anything else?"

"Well," he starts, " Did you magically transform in front of the Gamemakers as well?"

I laugh and shake my head. I flex the muscles in my back and then my wings start flapping. They're actually flapping. My feet leave the floor and suddenly, I'm suspended a few feet in the air. Is this even possible?

I'm flying. Even if it's not really flying, I still have wings and I'm still in the air. Close enough.

When my feet touch back on the ground, people's eyes are wider than ever. More cheering and clapping.

Silently I groan. I've had enough cheering and clapping to last me a _long_ time. And the fact that they're praising me adds to the fact that Iris hates me, and at this point, I do _not_ need another enemy in the arena.

"Can I go?" I ask a still stunned Caesar. He nods vigorously. I flash a huge grin at him and at the crowd and make my way offstage.

My heart is beating really fast, and I hear the drumming in my ears. The elevator isn't fast enough for me, and I repeatedly hit the 10th floor button, hoping to get the elevator to go faster, but it doesn't work.

When the elevator doors slide open, I push past Misha, Deveron, Divoga, Artemis, Sam and Iris and head to the room where I got ready before with my stylist and prep team.

I need to see Siberio. And boy will he be happy.


	10. Let The Games Begin

**Author's Notes: Hey so another chapter! :D Sorry it took a while to upload, I finished this chapter a few days ago but my Internet was down for a few hours and when it was back up I was too busy to post this so here it is! :D Please do me a ginormic favor and REVIEW! :)**

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><p><strong>Chapter 9<strong>

I push open the doors to the room where I got ready with Fortina, Rykeir, Cecilia and Siberio earlier. I guess I make a lot of noise when I walk into the room because Siberio pokes his head around the corner of the doorway where he keeps the outfits before I wear them.

"Tatiana?" he starts, then smiles happily, "How was the interview?"

"You genius!" I jump on him and give him a bear hug, "I. Love. This. Outfit!"

"You do? Awesome!" he exclaims, "Say, what did you do to get it to change? I wasn't sure how I was going to do that...but it worked then."

"Caesar Flickerman asked me to do some flips onstage," I explain, "And when I spun on the last one _this_," I gesture to my outfit, "happened".

"Nice" he nods his head, "I didn't see that part of the interview. Cecilia called me and told me it was a 'matter of life and death' and to her, I guess misplacing your glitter sort of is so..."

I laugh. "You know something," I start, "I've had to watch the Hunger Games for a long time, and you know that, but you make the best costumes."

He hugs me. "Thanks, but it's also the people that wear them." He inspects the angel outfit. "Did it fly?"

"Sure did," I chuckle, "Scared the living daylights out of everyone out there too."

He looks worried.

"In a good way, though," I assure him, "Everyone was cheering and clapping and going nuts."

"Yes!" he jumps in excitement, "You're they're favourite now, and that's to your advantage."

We hug each other until Divoga tells me I need to get to bed.

It's been almost a day and a half since the interviews. I am still known as the dark and light angel.

I'm nervous. To tell you the truth, everyone on our floor is, and I think everyone else in the entire building is. Well, at least the tributes and their mentors.

The Games start today. At 12:00 noon.

I wake up and it's early in the morning. They say they need to get us ready. Once again, I get up and eat, but not so much that I feel sick. I don't know how well I'll get to eat in the arena, and chances are I might not get to eat right away, unless I'm lucky.

Fortina, Cecilia and Rykeir fix me up, once again getting rid of all unwanted body hairs and washing my hair so it's smooth and silky. I leave my hair down and Siberio tells me to put on the clothes for this year's Games.

While I get dressed, I think back to a bit earlier this morning, when I'd said good bye to Nathan. We'd shared a giant hug, both of us crying. He'd made no noise, but silent tears streamed down his face, and I'd known how he'd felt in the way he'd looked at me. Before I'd have to leave, he'd mouthed the words "You can do it". For him, I'd be able to.

Before I know it, I'm standing in front of the platform that will lift me up into the arena. On my right is Sam, to his right is Iris and on my left is Artemis. Sam gives me a smile and a wink. Iris gives me a death stare. Artemis smiles.

This year's Hunger Games clothes are okay, and I actually like them. I am dressed in tight black pants, with knee height black leather slip on boots. Around my waist is a big black utility belt. It's dark black and has big pouches on it. I'm also wearing black fingerless gloves, which end at my wrist. They are soft and comfortable. I am also wearing a baby blue t-shirt that's neither tight nor loose, but perfect. To start, every District has its own coloured shirt. Iris, Sam, Artemis in I are in blue. I'm not sure what the other District colours are because we haven't seen them yet. Around my neck, is my token: my white wolf necklace.

Iris is in the same getup as me, as I guess all of the female tributes are. I eye the boy's outfits that Sam and Artemis are wearing. They are in blue t-shirts too, but theirs are somewhat looser. They have the same utility belt around their waists, but no black gloves. They are wearing loose black pants with black boots that look like they should be used for hiking.

I give Siberio, who is standing right behind me, a big hug. He returns it and gives me a big squeeze. I don't want to let go to one of the only friends I've made in the Capitol. "I promise I'll win, for you" I tell him, "Thanks for everything." He looks at me and a few tears leave his eyes. He smiles sadly. "Just get out of there, okay?" I nod, and then step onto my platform.

The platforms begin to move slowly upwards, and I wave one last goodbye to Siberio. Then he's gone.

The arena is in view now. I see light. I look over at Sam, Artemis and Iris. They're also taking the arena in.

The first thing I see is the Cornucopia. It's shining golden in the sunlight. There is a forest that starts on 100 metres on either side of the Cornucopia. The Cornucopia is basically surrounded by a meadow and then a forest starts at the edge of the meadow. There is a slight breeze in the air.

I'm counting done silently in my head for us to be able to run for the Cornucopia. A gong goes off and we run.

I sprint to the Cornucopia, Sam, Artemis and Iris right on my heels. I'm ahead of everybody else, all other tributes included. I'm almost at the Cornucopia. When I reach the first back packs, I notice all the other tributes closing in on the supplies. I grab a white pack and sling it over my right shoulder. There's a long slim bag and I take that one too. I also grab a black bag, a pack of twenty five daggers, four gourds of water that are lying loose, and a small sword, not nearly as long as the one I used in the Training Center, but I will have to do for now.

Around me, people are trying to grab packs and fight their attackers off at the same time. I see one boy from District 11 fall to the ground, dead, with a dagger in the middle of his back. I stand next to his body, his attacker having run off. I see Sam coming my way. Behind him is one of the male tributes from District 3. He has a bow and arrow in his hand. He raises the bow, ready to fire at Sam. I bend down quickly and pull the dagger out of the already dead tribute at my feet. "Duck!" I yell at Sam. He does, and right before the District 3 tribute lets his arrow go, I fling the dagger at him. It buries itself in his chest, just above his heart. He collapses to the ground. About ten metres away, I see Seth fighting with a female tribute from District 6 who tried to shoot a dagger at Logan, who is bent over retrieving a pack.

Sam gets up and runs up to me. After a quick unexpected hug, he lets me go and I shake an unknown feeling off. Iris is running towards us. Behind her are Rachel, Susannah, Logan, Artemis and Seth, who is now finished fighting.

I throw a quick look around, but no other tributes are headed our way. "Let's go," I say to my allies, "which way do you want to go?"

"Why don't we go there" Artemis says, pointing to what I guess is north east of where we are standing.

"Okay, let's head out" I respond.

We sprint to the edge of the forest in the direction that Artemis pointed at. I hear a high pitched scream coming from the Cornucopia. I run faster, my heart beat pounding in my ears. We finally reach the forest. After we make sure everyone is there, we decide that we'll continue the same way. Canons are fired, even after we're a good while away from the Cornucopia. We run for two hours in the same direction. In this part of the forest, the trees have beautiful leaves. The leaves are so many different colours: red, yellow, orange. Fiery colours. On the ground, there are colourful dead leaves that crunch when we step on them. This forest, or at least this part of it, is in autumn.

We walk for another two hours. The only sounds are the occasional talking and the crunching of the dead leaves underneath our boots. We stop, and everyone takes a small sip from one of the gourds of water. We press on. After another hour of running, we stop.

"Let's stop for a while," Rachel decides, "We should get our supplies in order."

"Alright," I start, "Everybody open up the packs you grabbed and check everything you have. We can divide the supplies in a minute."

I sit on the leaves and lean against a big tree. I open up the white pack, the first one I had grabbed at the Cornucopia. Inside, I find a lot of supplies. There's a first aid kit, a blanket, a small sleeping bag, some cheeses wrapped in tin foil, a strange looking purple liquid, probably some kind of medicine, a small box, that I don't know the use of, and a knife with sharp edges. I accidentally drop it on the ground. It slices a piece of bark in half.

"Everybody ready?" I ask. They nod and we tell each other what we've got.

"Alright," Susannah starts, "I've got a dozen daggers, more water, some dried meat, a small thin blanket and some green paint, probably for camouflage."

"Okay, so I have a crossbow with fifteen arrows, some sort of small box, I don't know what it's for, and a small sword" Logan informs us.

"Well, I didn't get much," Rachel sighs, "A sleeping bag, probably big enough for two people, a big thin blanket, crackers and a bow with ten arrows." She eyes the bow. "I'm not the best at bows, so someone might want to take it unless you want an eye taken out by accident."

We laugh. Seth talks. "I've got another small blanket, a sleeping bag, water, dried meat, brown camouflage paint, and some sort of first aid kit."

"All I've got is a sleeping bag, some black and white camouflage paint, water, a short metal rod and another thin blanket," Iris says, "But I did grab a good sword from the Cornucopia, it was underneath all the packs."

"I've got some wiring, we could use it for traps, dried meat, a blanket and _this_," Artemis says, gesturing to the beautiful bow in his hand. He has the quiver slung over his shoulder, which is holding about 20 arrows.

"This pack has a blanket, a first aid kit, two stones, a sleeping bag and this sword" Sam says, gesturing to the sword lying on the ground beside him.

I tell them what I have and they nod as I name every piece of supplies.

"What about those?" Artemis asks, pointing. I turn to where he is pointing, and notice the black pack and long black bag on my left, that I'd left beside me when I'd sat down.

"I'll check," I open the black pack and show them the contents. There is food, mostly crackers and cheeses, ten daggers, wiring for traps, a long rope and a medium length sword, that I hadn't noticed because it _just_ fit into the pack.

"There's just this one left," I gesture to the long, slender black bag at my feet. I pick it up and slowly zip it open. I gasp.

Inside, there are two things. The first is a long, silver sword. It shines in the sunlight, very brightly. The hilt is a lighter silver, and it is decorated beautifully. It is embedded with a beautiful blue sapphire, and it is surrounded by intricate white patterns, which are a part of the hilt. It's long, the same length as the one I'd used in the Training Center to fight Artemis. The second item is a bow, with a quiver and arrows. It's a white wood longbow, similar to the one in the Training Center. The bow is smooth to the touch, and comfortable to hold. The quiver is white, with patterns of red and gold around the edges. The bows are also white, with red feather at the ends. The tips a shiny and sharp, perfectly made. There is a total of 25 arrows.

Unable to speak, I just show my allies what I've found in the bag. They copy my gasp and stare in amazement.

"Um," I start after two minutes, "I think we should divide the supplies and divide the weapons based on who uses them best."

"Sounds good" agrees Susannah.

The supplies that we have all seem too good to be true. We have water, food and amazing weapons. I stop thinking about that while we split up the supplies. In the end, we all have a good amount of supplies.

Seth keeps the bow with 10 arrows, a blanket, a first aid kit, the brown camouflage paint, some cheese and a sleeping bag. Rachel keeps the strange purple liquid, the sharp edged knife, a small blanket, 10 daggers, crackers and some wiring. Logan keeps a gourd of water, the crossbow with the 15 arrows, one of the small unknown boxes, a small sword and a pile of dried meat. Susannah keeps a first aid kit, a small sword, 12 daggers, a gourd of water, a small thin blanket and the green camouflage paint. Iris keeps some dried meat, a sleeping bag, the black and white camouflage paint, a blanket, a gourd of water and the sword she took from the Cornucopia. Sam keeps a gourd of water, a blanket, a first aid kit, the two stones from his pack, a sleeping bag, crackers and a medium sized sword. Artemis keeps a gourd of water, the sleeping bag and blanket that Rachel had in her pack, the metal rod Iris found, some wiring for traps, some dried meat, the bow and 20 arrows he found and the longish sword that Sam found, which has two rubies embedded in the hilt. Finally, I keep a blanket, a small sleeping bag, the cheeses wrapped in tin foil, the amazing sword and bow and arrows I'd found in the long black bag I'd grabbed, the 25 daggers I'd gotten at the Cornucopia, a gourd of water, my small unknown box and the long rope.

"We should find a camp for the night" decides Sam, "It's getting dark."

We agree and get our things together. The utility belt around my waist holds most of my things, including my array of daggers, the cheese and my gourd of water. The rest, I put in my white pack. There's extra room so I stuff my two other empty bags inside. You never know, they might come in use. I use a loop on the utility belt as a temporary sheath for my sword. I keep my bow in my hand and the quiver with the arrows on my back, in reach.

We start to walk. After twenty minutes, we reach a rocky area. After inspecting it from afar, we decide there isn't anything dangerous there. Logan goes ahead and searches the rocks.

"Over here guys!" he calls to us, after five minutes, "There's a big cave over here!"

We follow the sound of his voice until we find him. He's standing at the rocks, about twenty metres to the right, and is pointing at something. It's the opening of a cave. "Is it safe?" asks Iris.

"Yep," Logan assures her, "I just went in. The opening looks small, but it's pretty big in there. We can stand with a foot between our heads and the ceiling."

"Alright then, let's go in" says Seth. He makes his way to the cave entrance. Like Logan said, the entrance is small, but we fit if we bend over. After Seth, Rachel, Susannah and Iris follow. Then Artemis and Logan.

"Ladies first" Sam says to me, gesturing to the cave entrance.

I chuckle and enter the cave, Sam right behind me. When I'm in the actual cave, I straighten up and check it out. It's pretty big, considering it's only a cave. I estimate it to be about four metres by four metres big. Sure enough, when I stand, there's a foot distance between the top of my head and the ceiling. My allies are sitting on the ground, their backs propped up against the cave's walls. I head to the far wall and sit, letting my white pack slide off my shoulder. Carefully, I put my bow and quiver down beside me. I bring my sword out of my utility belt and lay it on the ground beside the bow. Sam sits a metre and a half away from me, on the same wall. He too takes off his pack and lays down his weapons.

On the wall to my right, I see Rachel shiver. "Are you cold?" I ask. She hesitates, but nods slowly.

"I think we should make a fire," I say to everyone, "I can go get some wood outside. I mean, no one would see the fir considering we're in a cave, and it _is_ sort of cold."

Everyone nods in agreement. Seth stands. "I'll go get some wood and a few rocks."

He returns in five minutes with sticks of wood and a dozen rocks, each big enough to fit in my palm. We make a circle out of the rocks in the very middle of the cave. Then we prop up the wood pieces so the form a tent in the rock circle. I ask for the two stones that we had before from the packs. They're handed to me and I eye them. They're the same kind of stones I used to start the fire on the wall in front of the Gamemakers. I hit the against each other three times before a few sparks show. After two more attempts, the wood is alight.

Everyone huddles in a circle around our small fire. Rachel is warmed up and the rest of us stay warm. We talk about our how we'll sleep. We count up a total of five sleeping bags and seven blankets. One sleeping bag and one blanket are twice as big as the rest, big enough for two people.

"We need to have at least one person on watch," says Susannah, "We can all take turns."

"I'll take the first shift," Iris volunteers, "Anyone else can go after me."

"I'll go after Iris" says Susannah.

"Then me" Rachel says.

"I guess I'll go last," I say, "The guys can stay on watch tomorrow night."

There are a few words of agreement from the boys.

"If one person will always be on watch, we only really need to arrange a place to sleep for seven people, since we're eight in total" says Seth.

"Well, there are seven blankets," I say, "And whoever's on watch should have a blanket in case they get cold, because it's cold now and it'll get colder during the night."

Eventually, we decide that six people will be in sleeping bags, and one person can use six blankets to make themselves comfortable. Four people get their own sleeping bags, and two people share the bigger one. Artemis, Sam, Rachel and I each get our own sleeping bags. Seth and Logan share the big sleeping bag and Susannah sleeps on the ground with the six blankets. Iris stays at the front of the cave with the biggest blanket, the one that would fit two people. I slip my utility belt off and lay it on the ground beside my other things. Slowly, I slip into my sleeping bag beside my supplies. Iris says she'll wake up Susannah in a few hours, then Susannah will wake up Rachel and then Rachel will wake me up. As we switch from sleeping to watching, whoever watches before us will take our sleeping places.

I lie my head down, with only the sleeping bag between my head and the ground, and fall asleep.


	11. Link

**Author's Note: Sorry I haven't uploaded in a while. Exams do that to you ;)**

**Anyways this chapter might be a bit...random :P (you'll see what i mean) but if you know me this counts as normal ;)**

**please REVIEW because the more reviews i get the faster ill update, PINKY PROMISE**

**remember to REVIEW!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 10<strong>

"Tatiana, wake up."

I open my eyes slowly and see Rachel's head above mine. She gives me a shake. "It's your turn to watch."

"Okay, thanks" I mumble, tiredly. I get out of the sleeping bag and let her get into it. She falls asleep before I even reach the front of the cave. I run back and grab two daggers from my supplies before I head to my post.

The large blanket is lying on the ground. I sit and wrap it around myself, with my hands exposed.

Sitting like this in a cave, early in the morning, gives you a chance to think. You think because there's not much else to do, and it's so easy to let your thoughts wander at a time like this.

I hear a few birds chirping, somewhere in the forest, and for a minute, I feel like I'm back home in District 10. On certain mornings, Leila and I would get up early and listen to the various birds chirping on early mornings.

I think about the Games. How long will we all be able to keep up our alliance? How long before we have to split up? There are eight of us. I don't want to die, no one does, but there can only be one victor, and everyone wants to be that one person. I want to win, and if I do, I don't want to be the one who has to kill the people in the cave with me.

I decide somethin. I don't care how it happens or what happens along the way, but I'm getting us all out of here. There's a time to break the rules, and this year is it.

I let out a long breath. I keep myself occupied by playing with one of my daggers. The ground is hard dirt, but I carve small patterns into it. A moon, a sun, a star and a wolf. An hour passes, then another. My eyes begin to droop. I'm really tired. I begin become less aware of my surroundings and I rest my head on my hand.

There's movement behind me and I spin my head around. "Sorry" says Sam, who's getting out of his sleeping bag. "Don't worry about it" I answer. I turn back to the opening of the cave. Like I predicted, it's gotten colder since we went to sleep. I shiver a little bit through the blanket.

Sam appears at my side and sits beside me. "You cold?"

"It's nothing" I say. But I can't hide the fact that I'm cold. I shiver a bit more and pull the blanket tighter around me.

"Here, give me hug" he says, opening his arms.

"What?" I sputter

"Trust me, you'll feel better."

Reluctantly, I give him a hug. As weird as it seems, I do feel better. His skin is hot, really hot.

"Why are you so hot?" I ask.

"Well, I do have good looks, and I'm pretty irresistible..." he starts, grinning like an idiot.

"No! I mean why is your _skin_ so warm!" I almost yell, trying hard not to laugh. It doesn't work and I chuckle.

"Alright then, although the _other_ hot worked just fine, it's because after spending a few hours in a sleeping bag, you get hot" he answers.

"Good enough" I answer and sit back up. "So why'd you get up anyways?" I ask him, "You don't need to be on watch, it's my shift."

"You don't want company?" he asks.

"No, I don't mind company, I'm just wondering."

He hesitates, thinking about his answer. He opens his mouth to say something, but changes his mind at the last minute. "Nothing beats the early mornings," he says, finally, "and anyways, you're cold."

"But you only knew that _after_ you got up" I point out, smiling.

"I'm a mind reader," he jokes.

"Sure you are," I answer sarcastically.

"Sure am," he answers, grinning.

"Fine then, what am I thinking right now?"

He puts his hands to his temples and closes his eyes, trying his best not to laugh, but a smile is still on his face. "You...think I'm incredibly hot."

"In which way?" I ask jokingly.

He grins like an idiot. "Both."

I punch him playfully. "Shut up."

I laugh and stare at the forest outside of the cave. After a few seconds, it surprises me that I didn't correct Sam, or tell him otherwise. Do I like him? I think I sort of do, but I don't want to think about.

But I push my nervousness away and decide to let what happens happen. If I end up liking Sam, so be it. But I already do.

"So..." he starts.

"So..." I repeat.

"What's your favourite part about the early mornings?" he asks.

I pause and think before I answer him. "It's so...peaceful," I say, noticing that the sun is coming up already, "It's like there's nothing in the world that could ruin it."

He smiles. "Very deep."

"No it's not," I say, "It's just what I think."

He chuckles softly and smiles again. I lie back on the ground, propped up on my elbows, and he mimics my movement. We sit there for a few minutes, talking about things, and about the morning. All the while, the sun keeps coming up, until it's almost completely up. Suddenly, there's movement and noises coming from the forest.

"Did you hear that?" I ask Sam, my voice almost a whisper. I motion for him to listen, while I sit up and listen attentively. Sure enough, there's rustling and I hear leaves crunching.

I spring to my feet. "Stay here. If I'm not back in five minutes, wake the others up" I order Sam, as I get up and run back to my supplies. I clip on my utility belt, make sure my boots are on well, and I pick up by bow and arrows. Sam turns to me, unsure, as I leave the cave. "Sure thing" he replies.

I crouch over a bit so I can get out of the opening. Once I'm out, I stand up, listening. There's rustling straight ahead. I run towards the noise. While I run, I grab an arrow from my quiver and get it ready to fire, just in case.

In a few feet, I'm in the forest. The noises are farther ahead, so I run on. More noise. As I continue on, the noise gets louder and louder. Closer and closer. Finally, as I swerve around a big tree, I see the cause of the noise.

It's a wild bunny. It's tiny and it's shivering uncontrollably. Its stomach and tail are white, while the rest of it is a mix of various shades of darkish browns. From all my years of being with animals, wild and tamed, I recognize fear in its tiny eyes.

Slowly, I put my arrow back in my quiver and sling my bow over my shoulder, so it rests on my back. The bunny, whom I judge to be nothing but a baby, doesn't move, other than its shivering, but it looks at me intently, probably wondering if I'm a threat. I bend down onto my knees, and I'm half a foot away from the small animal. When it makes no movement, I extend my hands to it. My hands are cupped, and the rabbit makes no hesitation before it jumps into my hands. Maybe it's because it doesn't know about any dangers yet, or maybe it's just me.

I feel the small rabbit trembling in my hands, and I feel sympathy for it, the way I feel for all the animals back home. I feel a connection with them.

I stand up slowly and carefully, so as not to hurt the poor creature that I'm holding. "It's okay," I whisper to the rabbit, "Don't worry." My voice is soothing; with years of practice from calming jittery horses back at home. I bring the rabbit up to my chest and once I'm convinced that it won't fall out of my hands, I turn around and make my way back to the cave.

After a few minutes, my body heat must start to warm the rabbit up, because its shivering becomes less intense, and I can feel its small heartbeat.

There's movement up ahead of me, and I brace myself, because I am unarmed. "Stop! Don't move!" someone yells ahead of me. When I look up, Artemis and Susannah are standing in front of me, with a questioning look on their faces.

I relax my shoulders and sigh. It was only them. I guess that five minutes passed a while ago and Sam sent them after me. Their eyes slowly travel from my face, down to my hands, which still clutch the tiny rabbit.

"What are you holding?" Artemis asks me.

Slowly, I show them the rabbit in my hands, who trembles as the cool breeze moves its fur around. "It's a rabbit" I state.

"It's so tiny!" exclaims Susannah, as I bring it back against me, "Where did you find it?"

"I followed it actually," I explain, "It was making a lot of noise and I wanted to make sure it wasn't another tribute. It's shaking like crazy, it must be really cold."

"Let's head back then" says Artemis, "Let's bring it."

I nod and we walk back. Within the next five minutes, we make it back to the cave. Sam is waiting for us on the outside. When he spots us, he smiles and goes back inside the cave.

Artemis goes in first, then me with the rabbit, with Susannah bringing up the rear.

I transfer the bunny to one hand while I take off my quiver and put down my bow. When I do, I sit down against the wall where I left my things.

The others are sitting down too, waiting for me to say something. I explain about how I heard the noises and followed them until I found the rabbit. I tell them how I met Artemis and Susannah back along the way and I brought the rabbit with me.

"It's so fluffy!" exclaims Susannah. She blushes slightly as everyone looks at her, smiling. "Sorry," she says with a smile, "But it _is_!"

We share a laugh before continuing. I grab the blanket I'd been sleeping in before I switched with Rachel so I could be on watch and softly place it in my lap, using one hand. With the other I hold the rabbit. When I'm satisfied that the blanket is arranged well, I carefully and gently put the bunny on the blanket. It cuddles up in the fabric, trying to get warm.

"I'm keeping it" I announce.

"The rabbit?" asks Iris coldly, a sharp edge to her voice, "We're in the _Hunger Games_ in case you forgot, it's not the time to keep a stupid little rabbit!"

"Alright, fine with me," I tell her, anger in my voice, "I'll go, with the, no, I mean _my_ rabbit."

I get up, with the blanket. No one speaks as I slip my sword onto my belt, my quiver over my shoulder, along with my bow, and head to the cave entrance. Everyone stares at Iris, who is staring at me, with hatred in her eyes. I clutch the bundle of blankets, with the rabbit inside, to my chest. Quickly, I bend over and walk through the cave entrance. I straighten myself up when I reach the outside. Confidently, I walk into the forest.

Behind me, back from where the cave is, I hear yelling. More specifically, arguing. I speed up, and take a peek to make sure my rabbit is okay. It stops shivering and I smile. After five minute of walking, I hear someone, or some people, running after me. Knowing that it's one of my allies, I turn around and face whoever it is.

It's Sam, Artemis, Logan, Seth, Susannah and Rachel. They must've run, because I notice them breathing heavily. I look at them. "Yes?"

"Wait for us" says Rachel, "We're coming with you."

"You are?" I ask, a bit surprised, "Why?"

I look at each of them in turn. Rachel is smiling at me, and looking around at the colourful leaves. Logan and Seth are giving me friendly smiles. Susannah is smiling the most, and is eagerly eyeing the blankets, where she is sure the rabbit is. I'm sure she loves the rabbit by the happiness in her expression. Artemis and Sam are both smiling at me, same as the others, but there is a certain gleam in their eyes I never noticed before. Their smiles are soft and friendly.

"'Cause that bunny is the fluffiest thing I've seen in my life!" Susannah exclaims unexpectedly, "Um, I mean, well yeah because I love rabbits and also because just because Iris is pissed at you, I don't know why, doesn't mean we're letting you go. It doesn't really matter to me, or any of us here, if we do this differently or not. It feels more like we're home this way, you know?"

"Yeah," I say softly, looking down at the rabbit that looks like the many I've seen in the forest...at home, "I know."

"Anyways," says Logan, "We were arguing with Iris, because she's a real pain in the-"

Seth punches Logan's arm playfully. "Um yeah, we convinced her to come, and anyways, we brought all the things with us," Logan explains, "We thought that we should look for another place to sleep, because it's better if we keep moving."

I nod. "So where _is_ Iris?"

As if on cue, Iris appears from behind a tree, from behind Rachel. She doesn't look at us, or rather me, but she leans against the tree with her arms crossed and an angry expression on her face. I roll my eyes at her. After a few silent moments, I let out a long breath.

"Since we're ready, do you guys want to keep going?" I ask.

"Yeah," answers Artemis, "We're going to head the same direction as yesterday."

"Sounds good."

We walk, me in front with Susannah behind me, followed by Sam, Artemis, Logan, Rachel, Seth and Iris, who brings up the rear. We decide to walk, even if it's slower than running.

After forty five minutes, Susannah runs up a few steps so that she's walking beside me.

"Can I name it?" she asks.

"Name what?" I say, still holding the rabbit.

"The rabbit, silly!" she giggles, "I want to know if I can name the rabbit."

"Sure," I answer, laughing, "What names did you have in mind?"

"I already decided," she admits, "I was thinking of Link."

"Link?"

"Yup," she says, "He's an important part of the Games. He and all other things in this forest are a link. They all mean something."

"He's not a part of the Games. He's a rabbit."

"Aren't we a part of the Games?" she asks. I nod. "Then so is Link" she states.

I grin. "You hear that Link?" I ask the rabbit jokingly, "You're an important part of the Games!"

Susannah punches my arm playfully. "Don't let it get to your head. He's a part of them, but he can't talk" she says.

"Or can he?" I joke. We laugh.

By late afternoon, we haven't done much. It's only a few hours after that that we finally see something.

It's a castle.


	12. Backstabber

**Author's Note: I'm finally back after five weeks of vacation to Peru :D - reason i didnt write, that plus lack of constant internet and the fact that my laptop broke.**

**So since i last updated, i left everyone hanging, but hang no more :P This chapter isnt really long but i promise the next one will have more explanations, but not boring xD**

**Enjoy and REVIEW!**

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><p><strong>Chapter 11<strong>

Usually, when something like this happens, I look at other people's reactions before checking it out for myself. But now, I look at the scene in front of me first.

The castle isn't really a castle. More like, the ruins of one. The structure is pretty basic from what I can tell: two towers on either side of the actual castle, and the castle itself isn't that big. Green ivy climbs the partially crumbling sides, like a spider web on the wall. The right tower seems to be intact, but I can't say the same for the left tower. It looks like someone just ripped half of it away. There's no top to look out from, and the left side of it is missing the top half of it. As we look at it, a stone falls from the left tower.

The actual tower is made of grey stones, not all the same in size, but they fit together like the pieces of a puzzle. The ivy is thicker on the left of the castle. All in all, the right half of the castle seems to be the way it was built, while the left side of the castle looks like it's been through one too many wars.

After a few minutes of looking at it, I speak. "Who wants to come check it out?"  
>"What for?" Iris hisses, "Let's just leave it alone and go! The Hunger Games aren't for rabbits," she gestures at Link, who's sniffing my hand, "or for inspecting castle ruins! It's about killing others to survive!"<p>

"Tell you what," I say back, calm and serious, even though I feel like killing her, "Shut up and I won't kill you. An alliance is an alliance."

"Screw the alliance," she spits, "I'm out."

"Good for you," I snap, "Go find someone who cares. I'm going in." I turn to Sam, Artemis, Seth, Logan, Susannah and Rachel. "Go with her if you want, because I honestly don't care anymore." I turn my back to them and walk towards the castle's entrance, which is still mostly intact. "Have fun."

The castle's doors are made of a sturdy wood, and the right door creaks as I push it open. I'm about to step inside when something whizzes past my right ear and buries deep into the wood of the door. I spin around and spot Iris, her hand in a position that tells me that she just threw something at me. I look back at what she threw my way, and upon further inspection, I realize it's a dagger.

"Hey!" Rachel yells at Iris, her hand on her belt, "What's wrong with you?" Now I get it. Iris threw one of Rachel's daggers at me, and lucky for me, she's a bad shot. I grab the dagger and point it at Iris. Link hops from my hand and onto the ground beside me. "Okay," I say, my voice low, "_Now_ you're dead."

"Oh," she smiles evilly, "It's _on_."

There are 50 metres between us, but we minimize the distance to mere metres with large strides on both our parts. Rachel's hijacked dagger is in my left hand. With my right arm, I pull my sword from its makeshift sheath on my utility belt, and wield it professionally.

"Last chance" I warn, twirling the sword by the hilt on my palm, "You can run, far away, or lose."

"More like win" she spits. Without a second's hesitation, she lunges at me, now with her sword in her hands. I move to the side, but not fast enough. The edge of her sword's blade leaves a deep and long gash on my right forearm. I let out a small gasp of pain, almost dropping my sword.

Iris stands up straight and this time, I go for her. She moves to dodge my faint attack, but realizes only too late that that was my plan. In one quick movement, I whip the blade of my sword horizontally to the right. It's just close enough to her as to cut across her stomach, leaving a long gash across the length of her stomach. Unfortunately, it's not deep.

She yells out. I clutch the cut on my forearm, which hurts due to the large amounts of movement I did to attack Iris. My arm is getting weaker by the minute. There's so much blood.

Iris looks up at me. "You-"

Once again, she lunges at me, the tip of her blade targeting my chest, over my heart. I'm completely defenceless, bent over clutching my arm. I close my eyes…

_Cling!_ I look up. It's Artemis. He's wielding his sword. His blade is centimetres away from my face, and Iris's sword is across his. He must have jumped forward and intercepted the attack. There's no emotion on his face, but there's a look of determination in his intense blue eyes.

"You too?" Iris growls. Artemis's answer is a simple movement of his sword, which he uses to open a gash on her cheek.

She looks from Artemis, to me, to the castle, then back at me. "You'll die."

I try to stand properly, but I can't steady myself. Instead, I just stay in my half-crouched position.

"Mark my words," she continues, "You're going to die. And I'll be the one to do it."

Then , in a flash, she runs to the forest. And just like that, she's gone. A whisper on the wind.

All attention is turned to me. I look down at my arm. I attempt to walk half-crouched, but I can't. There's a sudden jolt of pain in my left leg as I try to walk. Hesitantly, I look down and instantly feel worse.

On my upper left thigh, there's another deep, long gash that Iris must have given me at the same time that she gave me the one on my forearm. I just didn't notice it because I was focused on my arm, which I needed to attack her. I'm worried when I notice there's a hell lot of blood, both from my arm and leg. I turn my attention back to my arm. The blood is trickling down my forearm, to my hand, which eventually finds its way to the hilt and upper blade of my sword. The blood trickles down in intricate patterns.

Blood. So much blood.

Logan, Seth, Susannah, Rachel and Sam jog over as I fall to my knees. My sword falls from my grasp and tumbles to the grassy ground with a soft thud. My vision blurs, slowly blurring out the world in front of my eyes. In a few seconds, my knees and legs grow weaker and I fall limply on my side. My face is pressed against my bloody arm. My eyes are half closed when Artemis bends down on his knees beside me. Someone's hand is on my shoulder. The voices of my allies are calling my name. Some worried. Some desperate. Some a bit of both. Some stand out more than others. But non of them are able to call me back to reality.

My vision fades to black.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: now would be a good time to REVIEW! :D<strong>


	13. Recovery

**Author's Note: Well, this chapter isn't the most action-packed, but it's a space filler ;) Hopefully you're happy with the second chapter for today :D If i can I'll try to publish the next chapter tomorrow or the day after :)**

**Don't forget to REVIEW! :D**

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><p><strong>Chapter 12<strong>

For the next couple of days, I slip in and out of consciousness.

I wake up fully after three days, and instantly feel two stabs of pain: one from my arm, another from my leg. I'm lying on my back on top of what I assume are blankets. My cheek is pressed against a cold stone floor. We must be in the castle.

"She's awake!" someone, I think it's Seth, yells. He must be close because his voice is pretty loud. Five pairs of footsteps come running, getting louder as they get closer.

Someone's hands help me sit up slowly, my back against a grey stone wall. When I open my eyes fully, Seth, Logan, Sam, Artemis, Rachel and Susannah all look back at me.

"Thank God you're all right!" exclaims Logan.

"We thought you were doomed!" from Susannah.

Everyone is happy that I'm alright. Artemis breathes a sigh of relief. Sam grins like an idiot. Rachel smiles while inspecting the cut on my leg. Susannah is just giggling with glee while Seth and Logan laugh their nervousness away until they're relaxed.

On the ground, a few meters away, there are two silver parachutes. "We got things?" I ask no one in particular, pointing at the parachutes.

"You've got good sponsors," says Sam, "In one there was the medicine that's making you better, and in the other, there were clothes."  
>I'm confused. "Clothes?"<p>

"For your leg and arm to get better, I was explaining how your wounds, especially the one on your upper thigh, because it's deeper, need to be exposed to the air to heal faster," explains Rachel, "I guess our sponsors, along with the rest of Panem, heard that because the next thing we knew, two silver parachutes float down. Like Sam said, one had medicine, and it seems to be working, and the other had clothes that'll leave your wounds exposed."

I look down at myself. The blankets are arranged so my body is covered, except for my left leg, which is completely exposed, and my arm, which I have over the blanket. Along with my left leg uncovered, half of my wolf tattoo is visible.

"Um," I start, "What happened to my pants?"

This time, it's Seth who talks. "The clothes we got were a black tank top and black shorts."

"Right" I say. Upon further inspection, I'm wearing the clothes that Seth said we got. Thankfully it isn't _that_ cold right now.

Something soft brushes itself against my hand. I look down and see Link, looking up at me with the cutest bunny face I've ever seen. I smile softly and he hops onto my stomach, lying down and rubbing his side against me.

For the next half hour, everyone recaps what happened while I was out. Iris is nowhere in sight. The two boys from District 7 are dead, along with the last girl from District 6 and another girl from District 8. Everyone has been rationing the food that we have, while Artemis hunts during the day for extra food, because pretty soon, we're going to run out of food.

I ask them about the castle and they talk. The left side is destroyed. It's falling apart and it's too dangerous to check it out. We've been on the right side, where they found an enclosed room big enough to fit all of us in. The tower is a great lookout post. To get up to the right tower, there is a staircase just outside of the room's entrance. The staircase spirals all the way to the top of the tower, where there is enough room for them all to stand up and look around.

After all the explanations, I talk. "Am I well enough to walk around?"

Rachel, who's been healing my wounds, answers. "You should be, but don't strain yourself too much. And if the wounds start to hurt, sit down and call someone over."

I nod to everything she says. I try to stand, but she stops me. Seth and Logan each stand on opposite sides of me and hoist me to my feet, making sure I can stand before letting go.

I take one tentative step forward. I can walk, but with a limp that hurts my left leg immensely. I stumble and almost fall, but someone is always there to catch me and steady me.

When I finally make it to the door, Sam walks up to me and slings my arm over his shoulders. With his help, I walk with ease around the castle's courtyard. Occasionally, I make him let go and I walk alone, but eventually I either fall or stop because of the pain.

It takes me two days, but I can finally walk. Not with perfect ease, but enough to not always have someone beside me, watching me. No tributes have died in the past two days, so it's time for us to expect a little something from the Gamemakers to spice things up a bit.

I'm standing in the courtyard with my bow in my hand, my quiver slung over my shoulder, my utility belt around my waist, with my sword tucked in one of the loops as a makeshift sheath. All afternoon, I've been practicing my shot. It's a bit harder to shoot now, because of my arm.

I see Artemis walk out of the room we're staying in with his bow, quiver and sword. He heads to the main entrance of the castle.

"Are you going hunting?" I ask from across the courtyard.

Artemis turns around to look at me. "Yeah."

"Mind if I come?" I jump down from the rock I was standing on. The rock used to be a part of the left tower. I wince as I land on my left foot. Thankfully, my right foot absorbed most of the impact.

"You sure you're up for it?" he asks.

"Yeah, I'll be good" I assure him.

"Alright then," he gives in, "You coming?"

"Coming" I say as he pushes open the castle doors and steps outside.

I cross the courtyard and meet him outside, closing the doors behind me. Artemis turns to me. "Let's go."

As we walk, I notice that Artemis has a smile on his face. It's probably nice to have company after hunting solo for a while. We search the forest with no luck. There's not an animal in sight. Eventually, Artemis decides that we better get higher. We find a sturdy looking tree and begin to climb. Artemis goes up first, then pulls me up, because he doesn't trust my leg to keep me off of the ground. When we're high up in the tree, we each find a thick branch and sit on it. From up here, we can see a large part of the forest. It'll be easy to spot an animal amongst the fiery colored leaves.

We wait. Ten minutes. Twenty minutes. Half an hour. An hour. When we're getting ready to go down, we see something. I see it before Artemis does. It's a baby deer. It's limping from some sort of injury. Artemis and I let our arrows fly at the same time. Mine hits the deer's neck, and Artemis's lands right beside it.

"Nice shot" he comments as he climbs down in front of me. He jumps down to the ground and motions for me to jump. I do and he catches my hand as I fall to steady me. the deer is twenty meters away from us, and we head over.

Carefully, we check what the deer was limping from.

"It's definitely a broken leg" I say.

Artemis looks at me. "How do you know?"

"Back in 10, I was always the one who took care of the sick or injured animals," I explain, "I had to calm them down so I could see what was wrong without them freaking out. And I'm telling you, this one had a broken leg."

"Whatever you say" he grins. Gently, he takes the two bloody arrows out of the deer's neck. He gets up and hoists it onto his shoulders, handing me his bow to hold. When we get back to the castle, he gives the deer to Susannah, who's pretty darn good at getting the meat ready to cook and eat.

That night, around a small indoor fire, we eat a bit of deer meat. The rest is packed up in tin foil or cooked and wrapped in the fabric of the silver parachutes for tomorrow.

The boys take turn on watch tonight so we can get some good sleep. I'm relaxed as I sleep.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Well, if I was the one who just read this chapter, I'd probably REVIEW right now ;) hint hint<strong>


	14. Leave Me To Die

**Chapter 13**

The next day, around midday, I'm standing on top of the right tower. I'm leaning against the wall that reaches to my stomach. The cool breeze makes me feel like it's autumn. I close my eyes and let my hair move in the breeze.

There are footsteps behind me. I turn back just as Sam reaches the top of the spiraling staircase that leads to the top of the tower.

"Hey" I greet him as he stands beside me.

"Hi" he returns, "So, you like it up here?"  
>"Yeah," I say, "Everything looks so peaceful from up here. The forest looks beautiful."<p>

He looks straight at me. "It's not the only beautiful thing in this arena."

I blink. Did he honestly just say that? I look at Sam. He's smiling softly. A smile spreads across my face as he moves closer to me…

Something hard hits my head. I go down, the ground rushing up to meet me. My head hurts where I hit it and where something hit it a few seconds ago. I hear someone running. Someone shouts.

I black out.

…

It's night when I begin to open my eyes. I'm still on top of the tower. My head pounds. Using my left hand, I push myself up off the ground and into a sitting position. Absent mindedly, I brush my hair out of my face with my right hand. I feel something wet. I look at my hand. It's red; covered in blood. When I pass my hand over my forehead, it stings and my hand gets even more blood on it. I stand up and suddenly feel dizzy.

What happened?

The last thing I remember was standing with Sam, him calling me beautiful, him getting closer and then…blank. Something whacks my head and I pass out for a few hours.

Slowly, I make my way down the spiral staircase, which doesn't help my dizziness. I pull one of the parachutes out of my pockets that we got a few days ago and scrunch it up into a ball. I press it to the cut I have on my forehead and hold it there while I walk. When I finally reach the bottom of the stairs, I notice that the castle is eerily quiet. I fight the urge to call out the names of my allies, for fear that an enemy is near. Instead I I'm tormented by the silence. I stumble as I walk quietly towards our secret room and I hold myself up against the wall.

I hear muffled footsteps. I start hyperventilating. Who is it? The noise is coming from our room, so I hold the parachute firmly on my forehead and I grip the hilt of my sword, as to remind me that I have some sort of defense.

Someone steps out of the room. I'm about to scream, being paranoid that it's an enemy, but the person clamps their hand firmly over my mouth, giving me no chance to yell.

"Shh, calm down," the figure replies, their face hidden by the darkness, "It's me."

I push their hand off of my mouth and look at them closely. Thank God; it's Artemis.

I take a step back from him. "What happened?" He motions for me to be quieter.

"What happened?" I whisper softly.

"Sam." He doesn't say anything else.

I don't get it. "What? What about Sam? Artemis, tell me what happened."

He has a reluctant look about him. He doesn't want to tell me.

I look him in his blue eyes. "Artemis, I have no idea what's going on. One second I'm in the tower with Sam, then…" I trail off, the almost-kiss can be left out of this, "…then something hit my head, I pass out and then I wake up a couple hours later and I can't find anyone but you! I'm not kidding around; tell me." Even though I'm whispering, I can tell that he knows that in other circumstances, I would've yelled it.

"You don't want to know" he says back, not looking at me.

"Do I look like care?" I demand, raising my whisper a few notches.

He looks at me. "Sam did it. I was on my way up to the tower to check on you. I was on the last step from the top of the tower and I saw."

"Saw what?"

He takes a breath. "Sam raising the hilt of his dagger and hitting you, hard, on the head with it."

I don't breathe for a second. "You're wrong." But I realize this makes sense. I wouldn't have seen him raise the dagger; my eyes were closed because I thought he was going to kiss me.

He ignores me. "Once you were unconscious on the floor, he turned and saw me. I started jumping down the stairs, yelling at the others that Sam attacked you and to get him. Once we got down here, we started fighting."

"Just you and Sam?" I ask.

"No." He thinks. "Me and the others against Sam. He's been holding out on a lot of his moves, because he was pretty good, not enough to win but enough to do some damage."

I blink in disbelief.

"He gave Logan a pretty nasty cut on his shoulder and he slumped to the ground, losing blood. Rachel watched him while we continued fighting. He knocked out Rachel and Susannah, leaving me and Seth to fight him off." He looks mildly worried. "When Seth fell and hit his head on a rock, Logan was already unconscious, because of all the blood he lost. The fight between me and Sam eventually brought us to dueling in the room. Someone, I think it was Seth, called my name, and in the split second I turned to Seth, lying on the ground, Sam knocked me out."

"Oh no." I'm worried now. "Where's Sam."

"I don't-" his head whips up. "LOOK OUT!"

I don't have time to react before Artemis tackles me to the ground. I'm sure he has a good reason for it, but it still makes me dizzy and sends pain shooting up my right arm. I hear a sound as metal hits the hard rock floor of the castle. Artemis lifts himself up off of me and looks at the main door. I get up on one knee and look at the door.

It's Sam.

Not the Sam I know. Not the Sam that doesn't sleep, and instead stays on watch with me, not the Sam that called me beautiful and definitely not the Sam that I was about to kiss on top of the tower before he knocked me out. _This_ Sam has an evil gleam in his eye. This Sam isn't the Sam I know. This Sam attacked me, knocked me out, attacked Artemis, Logan, Seth, Rachel and Susannah. He hurt Logan and knocked out the rest. He left us to die. This Sam is a stranger. A monster.

An enemy.

The right door is half open, and Sam's already halfway out the door. But he's looking at me and Artemis with a look in his eyes that scares me. Hate.

At this point, Artemis pushes me back on the ground to keep me safe. "Stay down" he orders before grabbing the dagger Sam threw in our direction with lightning quick speed. He grabs the hilt firmly in his hand and sprints towards Sam. Sam meets him halfway and charges at him with a small sword in his hand. Oh god.

I hear a high _clang_ as their weapons collide. I bury my face into the ground for a few seconds before daring to look up. Sam and Artemis are a few meters away from me, now.

"Get back!" Artemis shouts at me, "Hide!"

I don't argue. I roll quickly on my side and jump effortlessly to my feet. I know where the room is, I just hope everyone's there.

All my allies are lying on the floor. All unconscious. I don't rouse them because they're obviously in no state to fight. As a matter of fact, neither is Artemis, considering he already fought Sam before and then was knocked out. I can't really do much to help, because I'm getting dizzier by the second and the parachute on my forehead is damp with my own blood.

Nevertheless, I grab a discarded sword from the ground and run outside. I have just enough time to see Sam kick Artemis's feet out from under him. He raises his hand, and I see him glance at me as he's about to drive his sword through Artemis's chest.

I don't know how I did it, but faster than the speed of sound, I whip my sword, as gracefully and skillfully as I would throw a dagger, at Sam. He looks up and sees it.

He jumps backwards to try to dodge the sword, but he's not fast enough. The blade of the sword quickly slices through the fabric of his shirt, leaving a large, deep gash along the length of his stomach. He almost drops his sword in sudden pain, but he doesn't.

At this point, I grab a dagger from my belt and race towards him. He looks up at me, then at Artemis, lying on the ground, trying to get up. I can tell by the look on Sam's face that he's deciding which one of us to go after. When he turns to me and raises his sword, his choice is clear.

I hope I've got enough in me for a fight.

We fight. Artemis wasn't lying when he said Sam wasn't as bad as we thought he was. I dodge, faint an attack and attack, while Sam does the same on his part.

After a few minutes, the fight is still going strong. I hear a whimper from behind me and, worried, I glance back at Artemis. He's on his knees, where he fell before, one hand on his head, the other on his hip, holding the hilt oh his sword.

I hear a snicker and turn back to Sam. His sword is raised, and I know he's going to get me this time. It's over.

I jump to the side in a small attempt to get less of the blow. I do, but Sam still gets me good. His sword slices open the wound that Iris gave me, but he drives his sword deeper into my skin, making the wound deeper than it was when Iris gave it to me.

I stumble to the right, my dagger falling from my hand and I let out a huge gasp of pain. As if this isn't enough, he whips his sword back and cuts open my leg, again in the same spot that Iris got me.

It's too much. My feet fail me and I crumple to the ground, making no noise but a few whimpers of pain that escape my lips.

A shadow covers my face, and I recognize Sam's boots in front of my face.

"It's over" he says, hatred in his every word.

I close my eyes. Let the pain end. Let it end…

He raises his sword to deliver the final blow when Artemis, finally standing, tackles Sam to the ground. He jumps off of our enemy and sprints over to me. "Tatiana?" I hear his voice but I can't speak.

Suddenly he's gone, and I hear two pairs of footsteps running. Sam and Artemis, no doubt. I hear the familiar sound of the main gate closing and then Artemis is back.

"He's gone" he reassures me, hoping I can hear. I attempt to open my eyes, but I only succeed in opening them halfway. "He ran off into the woods."

When I don't answer him, he notices the pool of blood that is starting to form around my arm, and another one under my leg. He sucks in a sharp breath at the sight of it. He looks at my face and I try to look at him, but I can't keep my eyes open. My eyes close.

"No! Come on, Tatiana, stay awake! Stay awake!" his voice is desperate as he shakes me. "Stay with me!"

As much as I want to, I can't, and I let the blackness devour me.


End file.
